Anything Boys can Do, Girls can do Better!
by evafan24
Summary: "Let's have a pokémon battle, one on one, just you and me!" Miyu shouted with an eager grin. "A pokémon battle against you…you sure that's fair?" he asks with a cocky smirk. "Yeah, what difference does it make?" "Because you're a girl!" GaryxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't nor will I ever own Pokemon or Gary. Only thing that belongs to me are the plotline and the original characters I put in the story. ^^

* * *

_"Gary Oak!"_

_Gary froze in his tracks, turning his foot to turn around and see who was calling him. "Yeah, what do you want?" he asks in a somewhat annoyed tone._

_"Let's have a pokémon battle, one on one, just you and me!" Miyu shouted with an eager grin, pointing a finger in Gary's direction._

_The said brunette raises an eyebrow at the young girl's spontaneous demand. He took in her features with a quick five second glance. A girl who looked about eight years old stood at a height of 4'9''. She had long auburn hair that reached her back with hazel eyes that matched quite well with her hair color and sported a simple white sundress that reached her knees with some matching white ballet flats. But the nine year old boy didn't care about the girl's looks or why she was picking a fight with him. He quickly assumed it was probably because he was Professor Oak's grandson.  
__  
"A pokémon battle against you…you sure that's fair?" he asks with a cocky smirk.  
__  
She raised an eyebrow at the arrogant boy. "Yeah, what difference does it make?"  
__  
He chuckled, folding his arms over his chest and looking at her as if the answer were obvious. "Oh contraire, it makes a big difference."  
__  
"Oh really, and why is that?" This only made Gary laugh even louder in reply.  
__  
"Because you're a girl," he said, pointing his index finger at her._

_"And girls like you can't be pokémon trainers..." He mocked, pointing down to her attire._  
_  
She looked down at her outfit for a quick second before she looked back at him as if he had grown a second head. Was this boy really that narrow-minded? Or was he just having a stroke in installments? "W-What…? What did you just say?"__  
__  
"You heard me; little girls like you should stick to pokémon contests. Only boys like me can compete in pokémon battles." He stated smugly, jabbing a thumb at his chest to prove his 'manliness'.  
__  
She gritted her teeth in pure anger. She couldn't believe this…this chauvinist pig was actually a pokémon trainer? Boys like him didn't deserve to be called trainers if they didn't think a girl could be a pokémon trainer. She cracked both her knuckles and Gary raised an eyebrow when he noticed an odd looking glint in her eyes. "Oh really," she replied, taking a small step closer, narrowing her eyes. "Could a 'little girl' do this?"  
__  
And with those words, she pounced on him like an angry Primeape, throwing a barrage of punches right at his face. Gary let out a howl of pain, shoving the angry girl off him while wiping off a bloody lip and a slightly swollen cheek with his arm before she could do any more damage. "Y-You're crazy, you know that? You're no girl, you're a freakin' monster!"_

_This only caused her to get even angrier and he let out a small 'meep' before he proceeded to run as the self-proclaimed monster chased after him. "I'm gonna make you eat those words Gary Oak!"_

* * *

Evafan24: Okay, I know it's short, but I just wanted to give you guys a little taste of my story before I post up the first chapter. This is basically the prologue of my story before the first official chapter, but this chapter is still crucial nontheless. Stayed tuned, oh, and don't forget to message or comment on my story. It would mean a lot to me if you did.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a gorgeous, yet quiet morning in the small town of Viridian City. It was quiet until there was an obnoxious ringing coming from an open window. Turns out the obnoxious ringing was coming from Miyu's alarm clock. She slowly brought a hand out from her white bed sheets she slept under and hit the snooze button. She yawned before she slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Miyu, you up yet? Mom's got breakfast downstairs!"

Miyu smiled at the thought of her mother's home cooked food, it was always one of the perks she had to look forward to before going off to school. "Yeah, I'm up Aki-chan." She shouted, slowly getting out of her bed.

"Don't call me that!" he shouted back, earning a giggle from Miyu. She knew her brother hated being called that, but that's precisely why she did it. It annoyed the crap out of him, and as his baby sister, that was her job aside from being a student at Viridian City's Pokémon Academy.

Her face quickly brightened up when she realized today was her final day of school and she would be off on her journey today as a pokémon trainer. Both her parents had assumed she was going to become a coordinator, so they didn't exactly know about her change of heart. But one little lie couldn't hurt…

_'Could it?' _Miyu thought to herself. _'Eh, it's no big deal.'_ She shrugged off the matter, heading to the bathroom to get ready for school.

* * *

After adjusting her school uniform as she stood in front of the mirror, she ran downstairs, eager for breakfast. "Morning Mom," she greeted her, pecking her on the cheek. Her mother smiled at her, placing a plate full of pancakes doused in syrup. Her eyes sparkled in joy before she happily dug into her food, causing Akihiko to roll his eyes. "Ever plan on coming up for air anytime soon porky?"

"S-Shut-up, I'm starving! I'm a growing girl with a healthy appetite." She argued her mouth full of pancakes.

He snickered in reply. "I wouldn't call that appetite of yours healthy. You're gonna get fat if you keep eating like that you know." He grinned at her teasingly.

Their mother frowned at the both of them. "Miyu, don't talk with your mouth full. And Akihiko, what have I told you about teasing your sister?" she scolded them.

"Sorry," they both apologized. Miyu swallowed her first bite of pancakes before sticking her tongue out at her brother before she continued to eat. Her mother smiled, ruffling her hair a bit. "Aw, I can't believe this is really happening. My little girl's finally leaving her school behind and going on her first journey!" Her blue eyes sparkled, clasping her hands together in a dramatic way as she imagined her daughter finally out on her own.

Miyu gently pushed her mother's hand away, putting her fork down once she was finished eating. "It's no big deal Mom, it's not like I'm going away forever."

Her mother quickly pulled her into a tight embrace, Miyu nearly choking from being squeezed too tightly. "Ooh, but I can't help but feel excited! I'm so proud of you Miyu-chan. You've come so far over these last five years, and yet you haven't even started your journey yet! Don't grow up too fast okay?"

"M-Mom, I'll…be fine." She managed to say, trying to gasp for air. Her mother looked down at her, quickly letting her go with a sweat-drop. "Sorry,"

She was cut off from the sound of the doorbell. "Oh, that must be Atsuo. Don't keep her waiting now." Miyu nodded, quickly grabbing her plate and putting it in the sink before rushing out the door. "I'll see you guys later!" she shouted back. She opened up the front door and smiled before closing it behind her. "Morning Atsu-chan, ready to go?" she greeted her friend.

The said shy brunette nodded her head in reply and adjusted her glasses before she smiled meekly at her friend as they began walking off to school together. "M-Morning to you too, are you ready to get your pokémon today?"

"Hell yeah I am! I've been waiting forever for this day to come, and I know exactly who I'm gonna pick as my first choice." She said with a grin.

Atsuo sweat-dropped a bit at her enthusiasm, a trait she grew to know and love, but was sometimes a little too much for her at times. "Who were you going to pick?"

"Squirtle of course, I love water pokémon. You'd think with my personality I'd pick Charmander, but that wouldn't be a very good choice against my first two gym battles." Miyu explained.

"I guess that's true, honestly I don't really care who I get as a starter. I don't really have much of a preference."

"Aw, c'mon there's got to be a pokémon you would want. The starter pokémon you get is a big deal."

Atsuo tapped her chin in thought. "Well, if I had a choice, I guess Bulbasaur would be my personal choice."

"Sounds like the perfect pokémon for you." Miyu chuckled as Atsuo blushed a bit and smiled at her.

"Hey Miyu," Miyu and Atsuo turned around and Miyu face-palmed to see her brother running towards the both of them before stopping in front of them, holding her backpack in front of her face. "Idiot, you were in such a rush that you forgot your bag." He frowned, trying to catch his breath.

She took her bag from his hands. "You really should work out more, you're completely winded."

"Oh, and that's the thanks I get for coming all this way to give you your bag back? I'll remember next time not to do you any favors."

"Okay, fine…thank you." She sighed.

"Don't mention it." He rolled his eyes. He glanced down at Atsuo briefly who quickly blushed and looked away. Miyu glared at him. "Quit checking out Atsu-chan. It's bad enough practically all the girls in my class have a crush on you."

"It's not my fault!"

"Uh, yeah it is!"

Atsuo sweat-dropped as the two siblings continued to argue. She glanced down at her watch and frowned. _'We're gonna be late if we don't get a move on.'_

"I-I really hate to break up this sibling moment, but we should really get going. We'll…see you later Akihiko-kun." Atsuo then proceeded to grab her friend's wrist who was still mouthing off to her brother in protest, now being dragged away. "Ugh, I can't believe you have a crush on that…that thing!" she said, pointing towards the direction where her brother was once standing.

"H-He's not so bad Miyu…" she reassured him. "I think he's really an admirable person."

She snorted in reply. "Try living with him for thirteen years, I guarantee you won't be thinking the same thing."

Atsuo giggled, the two girls heading off towards their school for the very last time.

* * *

Okay hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my series. I promise Gary will be in the next one so stay tuned. Oh, and I'd like to thank Sinner1412 and Jadeswolf for the reviews, I really do appreciate the feedback guys. ^^


	3. Chapter 3

"Gary," A soft spoken voice whispered, gently shaking him awake. "Gary, it's time to wake up." He groaned, pulling the bed sheets over his head. "Five more minutes Daisy," He grumbled through the bed sheets. Daisy couldn't help but chuckle. Her little brother was definitely not a morning person, but she knew for a fact when he realized today was his first day to go on his pokémon journey, he'd be up getting dressed already.

"Have you forgotten you're supposed to choose your first pokémon today?"

Gary quickly pulled the bed sheets off his body, staring at his sister who merely smiled at him. "You didn't forget did you?"

He sat there for a few seconds before practically leaping out of bed and towards the bathroom to get ready. Daisy shook her head in amusement.

* * *

"So, have you decided what pokémon you wanted as your starter?" Daisy asked. Gary nodded, taking a bite from his toast that Daisy had fixed up for him. "Yeah, I want—"

"Gary, don't talk with your mouth full." Daisy scolded. Gary scowled, swallowing the mouthful of toast before he continued. "As I was saying, I want Charmander as my starter. Gramps probably pulled a few strings for his favorite grandson so he could choose whatever pokémon he wanted." He grinned.

Daisy sweat-dropped, shaking her head. "I doubt Grandpa would give you special treatment Gary. It wouldn't be fair to your classmates if you had the upper hand just because you were his grandson now would it?"

Gary shrugged, leaning back in his seat. "Seemed fair to me…"

Daisy sighed, running a hand through her dark brown locks. "Well, if you really want a head start, I suggest you get out there now while it's still early. Early bird gets the worm, or in this case, the early Pidgey gets the Caterpie."

"Yeah, good point." Gary rubbed his chin in thought before he stood up from his chair. "Thanks for breakfast. I'll come back once school is done and get my stuff later."

She merely nodded in reply and watched him rush out the door, leaving a cloud of dust in his tracks. _'Always on the move, makes me ask myself if we really are related…'_ she thinks, taking a slow sip of her tea.

* * *

Gary walked the long road towards Viridian City's Academy, his hands shoved in his pockets and his head tilted back towards the sky. He figured since he was early, he didn't see the need to waste all his energy and run the rest of the way there. He knew his grandfather was still gathering up the pokémon for the students to choose from.

He stared down the road when he noticed two figures up ahead. He narrowed his eyes a bit, hoping to get a better look at who they were. Judging from the long brown hair and outfit, he quickly recognized who it was. _'Well, well, looks like I'm not the only one who thought ahead.'_ He thinks with a smirk.

Miyu stopped in her tracks for a moment with a small frown and Atsuo looked at her with a hint of worry. "What's the matter Miyu?" she asks.

She stayed quiet for a moment before she responded. "You ever get the suspicious feeling…you're being watched?" she asks.

Atsuo raised an eyebrow, adjusting her glasses. "Well, not really. Why, think someone is stalking you or something?" she joked with a giggle.

Miyu scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "It's just that...I can't put my finger on it."

Atsuo turned around and sweat-dropped. "Um, I think you might find the source of your problem behind you Miyu."

"What? What're you—"

"Well, well, if it isn't Newt!" Gary mocked her.

Miyu clenched her fist at her side, twitching in irritation. "Fantastic," she grumbled sarcastically.

He slung an arm around her shoulder, giving her a smug look. "How's it going Newt? I'm surprised you still aren't sleeping in like another certain someone I know. I'm expecting he'll be running late as usual."

Miyu shoved his arm off her neck and glared at him. "Don't compare me to him! And it's Miyu, not Newt you idiot! I told you not to call me that!" she fumed.

"Considering the only thing you've managed to catch is a measly tadpole, I think the name suits you perfectly." He retorted with a smug look.

Miyu cracked her knuckles taking a step closer towards the obnoxious brunette haired boy, but Atsuo quickly interfered by putting a hand on her shoulder. "S-So, how are you Gary?" Atsuo quickly asked, hoping to change the subject.

Gary turned his attention to Miyu's friend, or as he liked to label her as, her protégé. "Fine, can't complain." He turned back to face Miyu with a cocky smirk. "Hope you still aren't thinking of entering the Indigo League this year."

"That really isn't any of your business now is it?"

"I doubt you'll go far with your skills. Seeing your performance at school, I doubt you'd even make a decent coordinator."

"What'd you say!" she flared up, her eyes filled with flames.

"You heard me!"

"Say it again, I dare you…"

"I said I doubt you'll—"

"Um guys?" Atsuo interrupted.

Gary and Miyu quickly glared at her, causing her to flinch at the harsh tone of their voice. "WHAT!"

"Um, we're gonna be late if we keep wasting time chatting here." She said, pointing down to her wrist watch.

Gary and Miyu stared down at her watch and frowned. "Crap," they mumbled simultaneously, both exchanging glares.

"There's no way I'm letting you beat me."

"Face it Miyu, like Ashy-Boy, you're always gonna be one step behind me. Maybe even a step behind him if that were possibly." He laughed again, walking off.

"Ugh, that little—"She quickly walked after him, now a few steps ahead of him. She smirked, turning her head to pull her eyelid down and stick out her tongue. "Try and keep up."

Gary glared at her, walking a little faster than before, now walking at the same speed as she was. They continued the same pattern until they were running towards the Academy, leaving a trail of dust behind them and leaving poor Atsuo by herself. _'I've got a feeling this is going to be a long day…' _She quickly ran after the two trainers. "W-Wait for me guys!"

Gary and Miyu continued to run for the school, now neck and neck until they both reached the door. They both stopped, bending over to catch their breath for a moment, exchanging heated glares before they pushed and shoved each other, trying to get through the narrow door.

Standing behind the two competitive trainers, Atsuo stood behind them with her arms folded over her chest. "For crying out loud…" Atsuo put each of her hands on their backs, shoving them both inside the room, causing them both to fall inside face first. Several other students turned to stare at them. She smiled nervously as she slowly stepped inside and away from them. "Whoops, sorry…"

They slowly pushed themselves up to their feet, now both sporting red marks on their forehead from hitting the floor. "Looks like I win again Newt." Gary smirked.

"In your dreams, I was like three steps ahead of you the whole way there!" she retorted back angrily.

"Yeah right, you know as well as I do that I—"

"I pushed you guys in, so technically, it was a tie." Atsuo interrupted.

They slowly turned their heads and glared at her who looked away nervously. "A tie is just as bad as losing!" they shouted in unison.

"Now, now, there's no need to argue. You're both in here on time and that's all that matters."

The three students turned their attention to the deep male voice behind him. Gary grinned, giving him a two fingered wave. "Hey, gramps," he greeted him.

Professor Oak frowned at his grandson. "Gary, what have I told you? Please don't address me as such in the classroom. Outside the classroom, well, that's another thing…"

Miyu snickered in reply. "Gary just got told off by his Grandpa," she whispered to Atsuo, which Gary clearly heard. "Shut-up Newt!"

"Make me!"

"Settle down you two, go sit down so I can get started." Professor Oak ordered. The two teens exchanged a final glare before going off in their own directions. Miyu sat beside Atsuo, and Gary sat in a desk that was nearby an open window. Professor Oak sighed, shaking his head. _'Teens today…'_

* * *

Evafan24: So, you finally got a chance to meet Gary in the flesh. I hope you guys are satisfied for the most part until the next chapter. Be sure to keep watching for my next update. ^^


	4. Chapter 4

**Evafan24**: Thanks ambling-soul for pointing out my previous mistake. I don't know how I didn't catch it before I posted it, I feel like such a moron for not realizing it sooner. Oh well, nobody's perfect right?

* * *

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Miyu mumbled under her breath.

"I-It's not so bad Miyu," Atsuo reassured her angry friend.

"I bet by the time it's my turn, all the Squirtle will be gone and I won't get to have one of my own."

"I'm sure you'll get one Miyu, don't worry."

The way Professor Oak had set up for trainers to pick out what Pokémon they wanted wasn't exactly how she had imagined it. Instead of just letting people rush up and grab whatever Pokémon they wanted, it was done with a random drawing.

Each student was told to draw a number from a bowl and whatever number they drew, that would be the order they would be able to choose their Pokémon. Unfortunately for Miyu, she had picked quite a large number which meant it gave her less of a chance at getting the Pokémon she wanted.

"Atsuo, the odds are against me. I don't get to pick my Pokémon till the number twenty-one is called and there are twenty-five students in the class. My chance of getting a Squirtle is slim to none."

"Unless the person before you suddenly decides they want a Charmander or Bulbasaur." Atsuo added.

"There's an uneven number of Squirtle."

"Don't think about the odds Miyu. Just be happy you're getting a Pokémon."

She sighed in defeat, but she eventually nodded her head. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

* * *

"This sucks," she grumbled, staring down at her pokeball.

"It's okay Miyu. At least you got your Pokémon right?" Atsuo smiled sheepishly.

"Easy for you to say, there was more than enough Bulbasaur for the taking."

Atsuo sweat-dropped, putting her pokeball back into her pocket and Miyu sighed. "Oh well, beggars can't be choosers I suppose. "

Miyu stared at her pokeball and smiled faintly. There was a small sticker in the shape of a fire on the front of the pokeball, showing she had a received a Charmander. "Charmander might not fair too well against my first or second gym battle on its own, but I'm sure if we train hard enough, we'll manage. Besides, I still have Poliwag to help me out."

Atsuo nodded in reply and smiled. "Yeah, that's true."

"But what really pisses me off is that since Gary was before me, he took the last Squirtle that was left." Miyu seethed. "Gary's a total—"

"Yo, Newt!" a male voice interrupted.

Miyu turned around and rolled her eyes as Gary approached her with a frown. "What?" Gary stood in front of her, his arms folded over his chest. "Listen, I…need to talk to you." He mumbled, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

Miyu raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Talk to me? When you say talk, you mean insult right?" she said, folding her arms over her chest. Atsuo frowned, gently nudging her friend in the arm as if to scold her. Atsuo was always the kind of person to give someone the benefit of the doubt, no matter how mean they were.

"Alright, so what do you want?"

"I came to ask you for a favor." Gary started. "I—"

"Depends on what kind of favor we're talking about here."

"Well, after thinking it over, I've decided that Charmander as a starter Pokémon is the best way to go. And I figured… maybe we could trade so we can both get what we want." he asks with a shrug. "You've got the Pokémon that I want, and I've got the one you want. So…is it a deal?"

She looked at him surprised as well as Atsuo. Was he really trying to compromise with her? Now she had seen and heard everything. She thought the day he'd actually talk to her in a civilized manner was when hell would freeze over. She couldn't help but wonder why he was asking her when he could have asked anyone else to trade with him. _'Probably because everyone else he asked were smart enough to say no.'_

She opened her mouth to reply, but quickly closed it when a thought came to her. Was she really going to give Gary the satisfaction and give him what he wanted? Well sure, he had the Pokémon she wanted, but giving in to his demands? She'd rather go fishing and catch a Squirtle on her own and try her luck there.

Miyu smirked at him, causing Gary to look at her in question. "So what's your answer, I don't have all day you know."

"Sorry Gary, much as I would love to help you on your journey," she started, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "But I've got plans for this little guy here." She said, holding up her pokeball. "You might want try finding a Charmander on your own rather than trying to take someone else's."

Before Gary could even retort, Miyu interrupted him. "C'mon Atsuo, we should probably get a move on so I can go and compete in my first contest." she lied with ease. And with those words, Miyu gently grabbed a hold of her friend's wrist and pulled her away from a dumbfounded Gary.

* * *

"Okay, so you're sure you have everything?"

"Yes Mom, I'm sure. I've been all packed up and ready to go since yesterday."

"Are you sure? I might've forgotten to pack some extra underwear for you in your—"

Miyu blushed profusely quickly cutting her off before she could finish her sentence. "Mom!" she whined in a somewhat childish manner. "You don't have to worry. I've packed everything, including underwear." She sighed.

Her mother smiled and chuckled a bit in reply. "Well, that's good to hear. I wouldn't want you coming back here because you forgot something."

Miyu nodded and smiled a little, looking up at both her parents. "Hope you have a safe trip Miyu, be careful out there you hear?" her father warned her. Miyu quickly nodded again in reply.

"I promise I'll be careful." Miyu wrapped her arms around her father, pulling him into a warm embrace. She smiled weakly, feeling her eyes well up a bit with tears. Even though she was coming back, it still was a little overwhelming for her. This was her first time traveling away from home and this was a pretty big step for her like all other new pokémon trainers.

She slowly pulled away from her father's loving embrace. Her mother smiled down at her, tears clouding her vision before she pulled her daughter into a warm embrace as well.

"Good luck out there sweetheart. I know you'll make both of us proud out there." Miyu smiled, slowly pulling away from her mother's arms, quickly wiping her eyes before any tears could escape.

"Thanks Mom and Dad, I won't let you down." She swore. She knew in her mind that promise would only last till they found out they knew the truth about what she was planning to train for.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Her mother rummaged through her pocket for a moment before she slowly pulled out a small ribbon and held it out to Miyu.

"I've been meaning to give this to you. This was the first ribbon I won and I want you to hold onto it for me." Miyu stared down at the ribbon in complete awe before looking back at her mother. Just seeing this ribbon made her feel even guiltier.

Growing up as a little girl, while her brother was out there fighting against gym leaders and catching pokemon, her parents had always talked about how she was going to be one of the best pokémon coordinators out there and the whole time she was too afraid to let them down and say she never wanted to be a coordinator.

"Y-You really want me to hold—"

"Yes, I want you to. Just don't lose it." She chuckled.

Miyu quickly nodded her head before she slowly took the ribbon from her mother and held it in her hands. "I-I promise I'll take good care of it." She put the ribbon in her bag before she slung it over her shoulder.

"I'll call you when I get to the next city." Miyu's parents nodded without a word. Miyu proceeded to take a few steps back from her parents before she began to walk away and wave at them.

She took one last look at them before she went into a quick sprint, not bothering to turn back and look and see the happy, yet saddened expressions on their face.

* * *

**Evafan24**: Aw, the ending was more emotional for Miyu and her parents than I had intended. Can't say I really blame them, she's only thirteen and going to be out on her own for a while traveling to places she's never been to. Well, look forward to the next chapter of my Gary series. Oh, and don't forget to review and tell me what you think. ^^


	5. Chapter 4 part 2

**Evafan24**: Gah, I'm so sorry I'm getting this out late...I didn't realize it had been a month since I posted for this series on fanfiction. I'll be sure to post up the rest of them soon. ^^;;

* * *

Miyu stared at herself in the mirror, gulping a bit nervously as Atsuo slowly approached her from behind with a pair of large silver scissors. "You sure you want to do this Miyu?" she asked her for the umpteenth time.

Miyu nodded in reply. "I've been planning this for a long time. I'm not going back on my word when I said I was going to do this."

Atsuo sighed in reply, slowly bringing the scissors to her Miyu's long brown hair. Atsuo took a deep breath, putting the ends of her hair in between the scissors. "O-Okay, one…two-"

"Don't shut your eyes! "Miyu quickly interrupted with a frown.

Atsuo quickly pulled away with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I just don't see why you have to go this extreme for your plan Miyu. I can maybe understand changing your attire, but cutting your hair? Why don't you just hide it under a hat?" she suggested.

Miyu shrugged her shoulders, staring at herself in the mirror. "It's just hair Atsuo, besides it'll just get in the way and it will all grow back eventually. If I'm gonna look more masculine, I should cut it so my cover won't be blown as easily."

Atsuo shook her head in disapproval. She didn't exactly approve of Miyu's little plan, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to at least help her a little. "Tell me how posing as a boy is going to do anything again?"

"It's a genius plan Atsu-chan, trust me on this." Miyu grinned at the thought. "If I dress like this and enter the Pokémon league, I'll get a lot more respect than if they knew I was a girl. And besides, I want to see the look on Gary's face when I reveal who I really am at the Indigo League and he realizes that girls can be pokémon trainers too."

"Miyu, you don't get respect like that, you have to earn it. And besides, even if you posed as a boy, you'd probably be treated the same way as everybody else."

"Exactly, I want to be treated like every other male pokémon trainer!" Miyu grinned.

Atsuo frowned and sweat-dropped in reply. "No, that's not what I mean."

"Well regardless, I already agreed to do this and you agreed to help. So we might as well get it over with while we still have time."

Atsuo slowly lifted the scissors to her hair and frowned. "Alright…"

"Wow, nice job Atsuo, this looks really good." Miyu grinned at herself in the mirror as she stared at her now short brown hair.

Atsuo smiled a little, blushing a bit from the compliment. "Thanks, I'm not that good at doing hair, but I'm glad you like it."

"Alright, well I'll go put phase two into action. Just wait out here while I go get changed okay?"

Atsuo nodded in reply as she watched Miyu leave the room to go change. By the time she was in the bathroom, the doorbell had rung. _'Wonder who that could be,'_ she thought, quickly heading downstairs to answer the door.

She unlocked the door and smiled at the visitor until she realized who it was. Her face turned a ghostly shade of white. "H-Hello Akihiko," Atsuo greeted him nervously.

"Hey Atsuo, my sister is here right? I saw her headed over towards your house."

'_No, he can't find out about this! If he does he'll-'_she quickly cut off her thoughts and smiled nervously. "Y-Yeah, but do you mind waiting outside? She's in the bathroom."

"I'll just wait inside if you don't mind." He walked inside the house and headed up the stairs before Atsuo could utter another word.

Miyu opened up the bathroom door, poking her head out. "Hey Atsu-chan, who was at the door?" she asks.

Miyu's face paled when she realized just who exactly was had been at the door. "U-Um…hey Aki-chan. What are you doing here?" She greeted her brother with a nervous smile.

Akihiko twitched, staring at her little sister who now sported short brown hair. "M-Miyu…what the hell did you do to your hair?"

Miyu rubbed the back of her head nervously and smiled. "Y-Yeah, funny story about that, I-"

"And don't bother lying Miyu; I can tell when you're lying."

Miyu sighed, running a hand through her short hair as she opened her mouth to begin explaining to her brother her whole plan.

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me Miyu!"

"Nope, I'm serious."

Akihiko slapped his forehead, slowly shaking his head. "I've gotta say Miyu. Of all the things that you've done, this is the dumbest."

"It is not!" she retorted with a glare. "This plan is genius! And the best part is, nobody is gonna recognize who I really am."

"But I recognized you right off the bat."

"Well that's because I'm not finished yet stupid. Once you see me, you won't even recognize me." She grinned.

"Yeah, I'd like to see that."

Miyu smirked in reply. "Fine then, prepared to eat your words." And with that, Miyu slammed the bathroom door shut to finish her transformation.

* * *

"So, what do you think?" Miyu asked.

Akihiko twitched, staring down at his little sister. "Y-You look…" he trailed off.

"Like a guy?" Miyu finished and grinned, posing in front of Akihiko and Atsuo. Miyu sported light purple colored contacts to hide her natural shade of brown eyes. Her outfit consisted of a plain light blue undershirt underneath a dark blue button up and olive green cargo shorts.

Atsuo nodded happily, both her hands clasping together. "You look like a completely different person Miyu."

Miyu twirled around in her outfit and smiled with glee. "Yeah, I definitely look the part right?"

Akihiko rolled his eyes and sighed. "Alright, alright, I get it. You look the part."

"I think an 'I told you so' dance is in order. Don't you think?" she teased.

"There's only one problem. What about mom and dad, do they know about your 'genius plan'?" he said, purposely adding air quotes.

Miyu quickly frowned at the thought and looked away. "I couldn't tell them I was doing this, they wouldn't understand." she whispered.

Akihiko raised an eyebrow as if she had grown a second head. "Don't you think…they would have understood if you just told them up front instead of lying to them this entire time?"

"That's the thing Akihiko!" she quickly retorted back. "If I told them now, they'd be so disappointed in me. They always went on and on about how I'd become the best pokémon coordinator, but I never wanted to be a coordinator. I always wanted to be like you Akihiko, a pokémon trainer…" she whispered sadly.

Akihiko looked at her a bit surprised; this was completely new to him. He didn't realize that she felt so strongly about this. She hated to admit it, but she had always felt a bit of a brotherly complex towards her older brother.

Instead of showing anger or annoyance towards her, he felt a mixture of guilt and flattery rise within him. Akihiko slowly reached out and ruffled her hair, causing her to look up at him in confusion. "Be like me huh?"

Miyu nodded her head a little and smiled softly. "I always assumed that you wanted to be a coordinator since you never went against the idea until now. If I had known this, I probably would've reacted differently."

"If I had told you, you would've just told mom and dad right from the get-go."

Akihiko laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, that's probably true."

"So do you promise not to tell them then?" she asks, her voice in a begging tone.

He stayed quiet for a moment before he slowly nodded his head. "Yeah, don't worry sis. Your secret is safe with me."

Miyu sighed in relief and Atsuo smiled silently. "Thank you,"

"But you know mom and dad are gonna find out eventually. If you aren't gonna be training to be a coordinator, they'll catch on pretty quickly."

"Yeah, I know." She sighed. "But I'd rather them find out this way."

"Well, whatever happens happens. Just don't forget… I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines. Whether you're training to be a coordinator, trainer, or whatever it is you're striving to become." Akihiko grinned.

Miyu smiled a little, tackling her brother into a warm embrace which nearly caused him to fall over since he was caught him off guard. He chuckled, ruffling her hair again before returning the embrace. "Thanks Akihiko..." she whispered.

* * *

**Evafan24**: Aw, looks like Akihiko isn't such a bad guy after all, he can be nice when he wants to be. Well, this chapter was a bit lengthy compared to all the other chapters I've written out, so I hope this'll hold you over until the next chapter. Don't forget to rate and message. Rate plus messages equals . XDDD


	6. Chapter 5

"Y-You sure this is going to work Miyu?" Atsuo said with a nervous look.

"Relax, I've got the looks and I've got the attitude down to a T. The only reason it won't work is if you show them that you know it's not going to work. Now c'mon, I wanna get inside and register before Gary gets a chance to."

Atsuo sighed before she nodded and followed Miyu inside the Indigo Plateau entrance. Today, Atsuo was planning on signing herself up for the upcoming Pokémon League that would be happening several months from now. It was required for all trainers that were participating in this year's Pokémon League, that they acquire all eight badges and show some identification as proof that they are in fact a pokémon trainer.

Atsuo and Miyu watched as the entrance doors slid open for them before walking together side by side towards the front desk. Standing behind the front desk was a man who looked to be in his early thirties who gave off an intimidating looking with his eyes, which made Atsuo even more nervous about Miyu's plan. Miyu however, stood her ground and looked the man dead in the eye.

"How can I help you two today?" the man asked in a somewhat monotone voice.

Miyu coughed a bit before she answered to 'get into character'. "Yes, I'd like to register myself for this year's Pokémon League." she stated, her voice a bit deeper than before. Atsuo resisted the urge to sigh and ramble on how this plan wasn't going to work. The man raised an eyebrow at the young trainer for a moment before he nodded in reply. "Alright, I'll need you to fill out these forms for me and I'll go ahead and register once you're finished filling them out." He pulled out a white sheet of paper from underneath his desk before handing it to Miyu who grinned at him.

"Thanks…" she chirped before she walked off to the empty seats, Atsuo following in step by taking a seat beside her.

Miyu began to fill out the form and Atsuo adjusted her glasses a bit before she looked down at the information she had to fill out. Atsuo frowned a bit when the first thing that was required was to give her name. "So…what name do you plan on using Miyu? You're not going to use your same last name are you?" she asks in a low whisper.

"You underestimate me Atsu-chan, I've not only planned this makeover, but I've planned my alias too." She grinned before scribbling down her alias name before she continued to finish filling out the rest of the form. Atsuo stared down the box she left empty on the form. "You left the last name blank." She whispered.

"I know," she chuckled. "Not everyone includes their last name, so I'm gonna leave it blank." After filling out the rest of the form out, she stood up from her chair and headed back to the front desk. The man at the front desk took the paper from her, scanning it over. "Ichirou huh?" he mumbled, reading over the first name.

"Yup, that's right." She nodded.

He raised an eyebrow when he noticed the last name box was left blank "I see you've left the last name box blank. What, you don't have a last name?" he asks.

"I do, but I prefer to be known for my first name only." She replied, shrugging casually. The man stared at her for a minute longer before he sighed and stamped the paper to verify the form. "Alright, I'm gonna need you to sit down in that chair over there so I can take your picture for your I.D."

Miyu nodded before making her way over to the stool and getting in alignment with the camera on the computer. She brushed some of her hair down a bit before staying still for the camera.

* * *

"Looks good Miyu…I mean Ichirou." She giggled, staring down at her identification card. 'Ichirou' grinned in reply before pocketing her I.D. into her pocket.

"Thanks, it looks a bit girly, but you can't tell it's me." Miyu grinned.

Atsuo nodded in reply and smiled at her but quickly turned into a frown when she noticed a familiar brunette heading in their direction. "Hey, what's the matter Atsuo?" she asks. She doesn't respond, but simply points into the direction she was looking at.

Miyu looked up ahead and she sighed. "Just, act natural Atsu-chan. It'll be fine as long as neither of us act suspicious."

Atsuo nodded silently, tugging on the hem of her shirt nervously as he walked further up the road and closer towards the two female trainers.

"H-Hello Gary," Atsuo greeted him with a somewhat nervous smile. Gary raised an eyebrow at her greeting before nodding in acknowledgement, glancing at newcomer for a brief moment. "What're you doing here?"

Gary smirked in reply. "Isn't it obvious? I came here to register for this year's Pokémon League."

Atsuo nodded, smiling sheepishly. "W-well good luck with that."

"Heh, I don't need luck." He chuckled, sending her a smug look. It took all of Miyu's will power to keep from snapping at him and knocking that smug look off his face, but she knew better than to do something like that. Her cover could be blown, so she decided to keep quiet for the time being.

"I could be asking you the same thing. You aren't training to become a pokémon trainer are you?" Gary asks Atsuo, who quickly replied with a shake of her head. "I-I'm here with my cousin to register him for the pokémon league as well." Atsuo quickly lied.

'_Nice one Atsu-chan…'_ Miyu thought with a grin.

"Oh really, is that a fact?" Gary turned his direction towards Miyu, staring at her up and down briefly. He couldn't help but think this guy had a bit of a feminine look to his face.

"Yeah, that a problem?" she asks with a frown. "No, but I hope you know what you're getting yourself into. Battling someone from the Oak family isn't going to be easy." Gary retorted with a smirk.

"Oh, you mean 'The Professor Oak'?" she asks, purposely playing dumb.

"The one and only," Gary grinned triumphantly. "I'm his Grandson, Gary Oak. I'm sure you've heard of me."

She tapped her chin in thought before she shook her head. "Sorry, can't say I have." She replied, causing Gary to look at her completely flabbergasted.

"What, you telling me you didn't know he had a grandson?" he nearly shouted in disbelief.

Miyu loved seeing Gary get so riled up, she decided to pour a little salt on the wound and continue on. "Well, I know about Professor Oak and his granddaughter Daisy Oak…but I never knew he had a grandson." She lied with a faint smirk. On the inside, she was laughing her ass off. The look on Gary's face was completely priceless. _'Yeah, this plan is totally worth seeing this…'_

Gary frowned, quickly pulling out a pokeball from his belt. "How bout I make it so that you do remember me, with a pokémon match?"

A glint appeared in Miyu's eye and she reached for her pokeball. _'Hell ya, I've been waiting for this moment for too long! Wait a minute, if I show him my pokémon, it'll only make him suspicious. It's best I wait a while till I get more pokémon…' _she thinks.

Gary smirks when he sees the boy hesitate for a moment, as if contemplating his answer. "What's the matter, scared?"

Miyu knew better than to let his mockery get the better of her, so she quickly turned her foot with her back facing him. "I don't need to prove myself to you. I've already registered for the pokémon league and I need to get a move on instead of wasting my time here." She stated in a somewhat cold voice before walking off in the opposite direction.

Gary twitched, feeling his anger boil as his eyes glared into the boy's back. _'This guy really has some nerve.'_ Atsuo merely stood there, a bit surprised at her change of attitude. It was one thing to see her lash out at Gary, but this attitude was completely different from the Miyu she knew. _'She was almost like…a completely different person.'_

"Hey, are you coming Atsuo?" Miyu suddenly shouted. Atsuo quickly shook the thoughts away from her mind before she nodded. She took one last glance at Gary before following after her friend.

* * *

Evafan24: Wow, that sure was an interesting meeting between Gary and Miyu...I mean Ichirou XD. Anyway, be sure to keep watching for the next chapter of my Gary Oak series. Oh and if you have any feedback, be sure to send it...as long as it's not flames or bashing me. ^^;;


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: For the record, I don't own the lyrics I provided for this chapter or Pokemon for that matter. All I own are the original characters and plot I've made for this series. XD

* * *

_I'm on the road to become the greatest trainer_

_And I won't quit until I'm #1_

_Gotta be #1, #1, #1_

_We keep on tryin'_

_And then we try some more_

_To stay together_

_And find a place worth fighting for_

_I'm on the road (to Viridian City)_

"Um, Miyu maybe—"

"It's Ichirou, remember? It's either that or Ichi." Miyu reminded her. "Besides, it's weird when you call me by my real name and everybody else calls me by my alias name. It's best we just stick with one name to avoid confusion."

"Right, Ichirou," she quickly corrected herself. "I was going to say that maybe you should keep it down a bit. In case someone hears you singing?" Atsuo suggested.

It was going to take some time for Atsuo to adjust to this idea. She had to address her friend as Ichirou instead of Miyu so people won't grow suspicious. It was a bit confusing at first, but she knew she'd grow used to it.

"Why, nobody else is around right now to hear me so why should I care?" she shrugged. "Besides, I think the lyrics fit quite well with our situation, considering we're in Viridian City."

"Um, technically we're on our way to Viridian Forest." Atsuo corrected.

"Eh, same difference, it's still a good song and you can't argue with that." Miyu grinned in reply before she continued to sing to herself and Atsuo couldn't help but chuckle a bit as they continued on towards Viridian Forest.

Miyu stared at her surroundings, her left eye twitching. "This…is Viridian Forest? It's huge; it's like a freakin' maze."

"As long as we use the map, it won't take us very long to get through. I doubt you'll have the energy to fight against the first gym leader in Pewter City once we reach the end of it." Atsuo pulled off her backpack and rummaged through it, searching for her map.

"I guess you're right. There's a chance we might encounter some trainers here or even some wild pokémon." Miyu grinned at the thought.

"Yes, most likely bug pokémon. It's pretty rare to find any other type around this forest, or so I've been told." Miyu's face paled at the mention of bug pokémon, she wish she had known earlier.

Atsuo noticed the look of worry on Miyu's face and she smiled weakly. "As long as we don't disturb any of the bug pokémon, we'll be just fine."

"Yeah and what if they attack us instead?"

"Fight back?"

"…A very good point."

Atsuo sweat-dropped, but decided not to say anything. "It's settled then, if I see any bug pokémon, I'll show them whose boss!" Miyu shouted, clenching her fists in determination.

"Oh, is that a challenge?"

Miyu and Atsuo quickly turned their attention to the newcomer that stood behind them. A little boy who looked no older than ten years old. He sported a yellow shirt with blue cargo pants and a backwards baseball cap. "I challenge you to a pokémon battle, my bug pokémon against your pokémon."

"You're on kid." She grinned, pulling a pokeball from her pocket before tossing it in the air. "Go Charmander!"

Charmander stood in front of his opponent, baring its teeth…well its fangs anyway. "Chaaar!" he cried out, the fire from his tail quickly growing bigger.

"Go Weedle!" the boy shouted, tossing his pokeball out. Weedle stared back at Charmander, its horn reflecting in the light. Miyu shivered a bit as she stared at the small bug pokémon.

"Alright Charmander, take Weedle down with Ember then follow it up with Scratch!" she ordered.

"Counter it with Poison Sting!" her opponent quickly retorted.

Both pokémon charged at each other, releasing their attacks simultaneously.

* * *

"You did good Ichirou," Atsuo congratulated, smiling at her.

"Thanks, wish I could fight something other than a bug pokémon, but beggars can't be choosers I suppose." Miyu replied.

Atsuo nodded her head a little in agreement. After battling a few pokémon trainers, Atsuo and Miyu decided to take a little break and let their pokémon out for a little while. Charmander was sleeping beside Miyu while Poliwag and Bulbasaur were munching on some food Atsuo had packed for the pokémon.

"So, when are you gonna challenge some trainers Atsuo?" she asks.

Atsuo shook her head. "I'm not really interested in pokémon battles."

Miyu looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Okay then, why not train to become a coordinator?"

Atsuo shook her head once more causing Miyu to face palm. "So, what is it that you're going to do?"

Atsuo stayed quiet for a moment before she rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a magazine and handed it to her. Miyu took it from her hands and stared at the cover of it. "Breeders Monthly huh?"

"Yeah, I was thinking about maybe becoming a breeder. Breeders don't focus on making their pokémon stronger; they produce and raise their pokémon to the absolute best potential."

"Oh, is that so…" she murmured, skimming through the magazine. Each page was filled with different people that were breeders or breeders-in-training. They offered different tips for people who wished become a breeder and stuff to remember in order to keep your pokémon happy and healthy.

"Sounds interesting don't you think? We talked about it a little at the academy, but our teachers didn't talk about it too much in detail. So I'm going to look into it more." Atsuo replied, smiling softly.

"Hey Atsuo, you said yourself breeders raise their pokémon to the best potential right?"

"Yeah,"

"Well I'm sure a battle or two couldn't hurt right? I'm sure it could even improve your Pokémon's potential."

"Yeah, but—"

"Alright then," Miyu stood up from the spot she was sitting in, dusting off her clothes a bit. "I'm gonna go find someone to challenge you and bring them back here." She grinned before running off and Atsuo sighed in defeat.

"Wait, you should take your pokémon with you!" Atsuo quickly shouted.

"Don't worry, I'll be back in a flash!" she shouted back.

* * *

"Ugh, flash my butt. It's been like ten minutes and I still haven't found a trainer yet." Miyu whined under her breath. She walked over towards the nearest tree, letting her back rest up against it for support. _'Think I'm just gonna take a little breather and head back before Atsu-chan gets worried.'_ She thinks, slowly closing her eyes.

Her eyes quickly snapped open when she hears a loud rustling in the tree she was resting underneath. She quickly jumped back, reaching for her pokeball, only to remember she had left them back with Atsuo. _'Damn, guess I should've listen to her if I had known I was gonna take this long…'_ She quickly stepped away from the tree, slowly moving back from it carefully.

'_If I just keep quiet…I can make a quick get away.'_Her thoughts were cut short when she felt a loud crunch underneath her foot. Her face paled when she realized she had stepped on a Kakuna. _'How could I have not noticed that?' _she screamed in her mind.

The Kakuna let out a loud hum before the shell slowly began to crack as a needle pushed it open. Miyu slowly backed away from it before sprinting into a run. She quickly turned back to see if she was being followed only to see nothing behind her. _'That was a close—'_

She stopped dead in her tracks when a horde of Beedrill suddenly appeared in front of her, their eyes staring her down as if waiting for her next move.

'_Okay, so I've got two choices, scream…or run?' _Miyu slowly turned her foot before sprinting in the opposite direction, screaming as loud as she could, hoping to draw some attention from any random trainers. This only encouraged the Beedrill more, quickly flying after her.

She was too afraid to even look back, hearing the buzzing of the Beedrill told her they were still on her trail. _'Gotta…get out of here!'_ she screamed in her mind. Her thoughts were quickly cut short when her body suddenly had met with the ground when she tripped.

"Man that smarts…" she murmured, wincing a bit from the pain. She quickly pushed herself up only to fall back down when she sees her ankle a bit swollen from when she had tripped._ 'I have to keep moving and try to find some place to hide before—'_

She cut her thoughts off short when she realized the Beedrill had finally caught up with her, slowly closing in on her. _'I'm dead,'_ she thought in defeat. "I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead—"

"Pidgey, use your Gust attack!" a voice suddenly shouted.

* * *

**Evafan24**: Well, looks like someone has come to save her after all? So who do you think it could be? Well, you'll just have to wait and see for yourself and stay tuned for my next chapter. Oh, and by the way, I hope it's not confusing for you guys whenever I use her alias name, but I'll still use her original name. ^^;;


	8. Chapter 7

Miyu quickly turned her head in the direction of the voice in surprise, seeing a Pidgey suddenly appear before her. It let out a small cry before releasing a violent gust of wind towards the Beedrill who were blown back a few feet from Miyu. The Beedrill glared at the Pidgey, focusing their attention on the small bird.

"Follow it up with Tackle and a Sand Attack!" the trainer ordered.

Following orders, Pidgey quickly dove down towards one of the Beedrill and tackled it before unleashing a large gust of sand around the Beedrill. Miyu quickly shut her eyes to keep from getting sand in her eyes, hoping it would all be over.

She could make out the sound of Beedrill flying off back to where they came. "Return…" The Pidgey was returned to its pokeball before the trainer approached her, their shadow standing over her. She slowly opened one eye to see who had been her savior. She looked up a bit surprised to see Gary standing over her with a frown.

'_Gary!'_ she thinks. _'How the heck did he find me? Oh, he probably must've heard me screaming. I bet he thinks I scream like a girl…but I am a girl, but he doesn't know that.'_

"And you call yourself a pokémon trainer. What the hell was that all about?" he asks her.

"Like I had a choice, I was outnumbered and I didn't have any pokémon with me." She retorted back, glaring at him.

He looked at her as if she was crazy and she quickly realized how stupid she sounded. "Man, you're even dumber than I thought. What kind of trainer walks around a forest filled with pokémon without even bringing at least one pokémon with them?"

"I wasn't planning on walking out too far…" she finished lamely, looking away from him.

"It doesn't matter; you should always be on your guard and take your pokémon with you. Especially out in these parts." Gary stated with a frown.

She snorted in reply. "Yeah, I know that now…" she grumbled.

The two trainers stayed quiet for a moment, the tension between them growing thicker, almost palpable. Miyu suddenly broke the silence with a question of her own. "So, why'd you save me? We're not exactly friends you know…" she muttered, albeit loud enough for Gary to hear her.

"What, you think I'd be so cold and shallow as to leave you out here with those Beedrill just because we aren't friends?" he asks, arching a brow at her.

She shrugged meekly, looking up at him awkwardly. "I guess not."

"Just don't expect me to come and rescue your ass the next time this happens." He stated smugly.

Miyu rolled her eyes in reply, scoffing under her breath. "Whatever, I can take care of myself." she grumbled. "…but thanks." She whispered awkwardly, rubbing the side of her arm.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" he said, putting a hand around his ear.

"I said…thank you." She gritted her teeth.

"Could you speak a little louder?"

"Argh, you are such an ass!"

"And you're an idiot!"

The two teens continued to glare before looking away from each other. "This doesn't change the fact that we're not friends." Miyu grumbled.

"Fine with me," Gary replied with a careless shrug.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I've got somewhere I need to be." Miyu slowly pushed herself up to her feet, only to wince when she put pressure on her right ankle. She slowly sat back down rubbing her red ankle.

Gary stared down at her with a raised eyebrow, looking at her with slight concern. "You pull a muscle or something?"

"I-I think I twisted my ankle when I was running away from those Beedrill…" she whispered. Gary frowned and sat down beside her. He gently pulled away her hand and stared at her swollen ankle. "You'll probably need some ice for that to keep the swelling down." He suggested.

'_Gee thanks captain obvious…'_ she thought with a roll of her eyes.

"I doubt walking on it will make it any better."

"So what do you suggest?" she asks.

"I can carry you the rest of the way back." He suggested.

"Next option." She quickly spoke.

"Would you rather be sitting here till the next person comes around?"

She sighed in defeat. "Fine, let me just—AH!" she yelped in surprise as Gary suddenly lifts her off the ground and puts her on his back piggy-back style. "WHAT'RE YOU DOING?"

"What's it look like, I'm carrying you." He replied back with a hint of annoyance.

"Well did you have to do it so rashly?" she grumbled a bit, feeling a small blush rise to her cheeks.

Gary laughed and walked through the forest while carrying Miyu on his back. He turned his head slightly to look at her. "Man, you're really light. You sure you're a guy?" he joked with a laugh.

"Shut-up!" she smacked the back of his head, causing him to wince in pain.

"Hey, don't make me drop you…" he warned.

"And I'll drop-kick you if you drop me." She retorted.

"Ugh, you ungrateful little—"

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Nothing…"

Miyu and Gary stayed quiet, watching a few random pokémon run about and go among their business, up until Miyu suddenly spoke up again.

"Thank you…Gary," Miyu hesitantly thanked him with a weak smile.

"Don't mention it. I mean really please, never mention this to anyone." Gary stressed.

"Only if you won't…"

"Good, I'd hate for someone to see us."

"Ichirou, there you are!"

Gary and 'Ichirou' looked up to see Atsuo running towards them. "Guess I spoke too soon."


	9. Chapter 8

**Evafan24:** I figured I should just drag and drop the next chapter from Quizilla to here after reading the new reviews I got from this story. Thanks so much for the support/feedback! ^.^

* * *

"I've been looking all over for you. What took you so long?" Atsuo asks her friend, panting a bit to catch her breath.

"Long story, I'll tell you about it later." Miyu replied.

"We need to get out of here for starters and find the nearest Pokémon center." Gary added.

"Well, Pewter City isn't too far off from here so we should just keep heading that way now before it gets too dark." Atsuo suggested.

"Sounds like a plan."

"Your friend will be just fine. He just needed some ice and some bandage wrap to take care of his ankle, nothing to worry about."

"Thanks Nurse Joy." Gary and Atsuo said in unison.

She smiled with a nod before walking off to resume her business with the injured pokémon. Gary placed his hands behind his head in a lazy fashion. "Well, since I don't have to chauffer him around anymore, I should probably get going. I've got some last minute training to do before the day is done." Gary said before he began walking off.

"Wait, you're not gonna see if Ichirou is alright?" Atsuo asks him.

"Nurse Joy said he'd be okay so I don't see any reason to go see him. Besides, knowing him I'm sure I'll run into him again soon enough." He smirked lightly.

Atsuo nodded silently, watching Gary give her a two-fingered wave. "Smell-ya later!"

"Yeah, later…" Atsuo walked off towards the room where Miyu was resting in.

* * *

"He left already?" Miyu asks.

Atsuo nodded her head. "He said he had some last minute training to do."

"That figures, he's always on the go. He doesn't know how to sit still." Miyu sighed, resting her head on her pillow.

"Oh, and you're one to talk?" Atsuo put her hands on her hips, staring down at Miyu.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Miyu frowned, raising an eyebrow at her friend.

"It means that you should've been more careful out there and had your pokémon with you. What if Gary hadn't been there to come and get you? You could've been attacked by some wild Beedrill or something."

"Yeah, about that…that actually did happen. I was running from some Beedrill and I tripped and hurt my ankle." Miyu admitted sheepishly.

Atsuo slapped her forehead. "Ichi,"

"I know, I know. I should've taken my pokémon with me instead of going out on my own. I get it now." She sighed.

Atsuo smiled a little. "Well, as long as you know that now."

Miyu nodded her head a little. "Yeah…"

Atsuo was quiet for a moment before her eyes lit up in realization. "Oh, I guess that explains why he was carrying you on his back."

"Do you really have to bring that up now?" she grumbled, pulling the pillow over her face.

Atsuo couldn't help but giggle a little. "That was awfully nice of him. I wouldn't expect him to do something like that, especially for someone who isn't exactly on good terms with him."

Miyu slowly lifted the pillow from her face. "Well, I still think he's an ass. And besides, it's not like it means anything, we're not even friends."

"That may be true, but you both are alike in more ways than one if you think about it."

"What?"

"Well, yeah. You both have a very competitive nature and you're both a bit on the quick tempered side for starters and—"

"Atsu-chan, could we not talk about this please? Last thing I need to hear is how much we have in common when we can't even stand each other. So, let's just drop it okay?"

"Alright, fair enough…" she giggled.

'_I'm sure if you gave him a chance and put your differences aside, you two could become friends someday…'_

* * *

"Alright Charmander, finish it off with Ember!" Miyu ordered.

"Dodge and use Tackle Bulbasaur!" Atsuo retorted.

Charmander opened his mouth releasing a large flame towards Bulbasaur which he quickly countered by jumping out of the way and head butting Charmander. "Bulba!" he cried out.

Charmander was knocked back a few feet before regaining his stance, staring at Bulbasaur while they both stopped to catch their breath. "I think that's enough for today Charmander, you deserve a good rest." Miyu raised her pokeball, returning her Charmander back inside its ball.

Atsuo rushed over to her Bulbasaur's side and rubbed the top of his head affectionately. "Good job out there Bulbasaur, you've earned a nice long rest." Bulbasaur gave her a toothy smile, nuzzling his head in her hand before he was returned to his pokeball as well.

It had been three days since Miyu and Atsuo had arrived in Pewter City and Miyu wasted no time lollygagging. She spent her time training with both her Charmander and Poliwag to be prepared for her battle up against Brock, Pewter's Gym Leader. She managed to coax Atsuo into battling against her a few times to get some extra practice in as well.

"How about we hit the Pokémon Center and heal our pokémon and have some lunch while we wait?" Atsuo offered.

"Sounds good to me," Miyu grinned at the thought of food.

"D-Don't you think you might wanna slow down Ichirou? You might choke." Atsuo warned her.

Miyu swallowed a mouthful of food before she spoke. "The sooner I finish my meal, the sooner I can get my pokémon and battle that gym leader." She said before she continued eating at a fast pace.

"Well, that's great and all, but you still might want to slow down. We don't have to rush, besides we've got the rest of the day ahead of us." She reassured her friend.

"I want to get there and earn my badge before Gary does so I can rub it in his ugly face." Miyu said through gritted teeth.

"R-Right…"

"I'm afraid it's a little too late for that girly-boy." A voice interrupted.

The girls turned their attention towards Gary who stood in front of them proudly. "Excuse me, who you calling girly-boy?" Miyu growled, glaring at Gary.

Gary ignored her question, pulling out a Pewter City badge. "Feast your eyes on this. I just got it today, so it looks like you're all outta luck." He smirked triumphantly.

"So what, that doesn't mean I can't earn my badge by the end of the day. You just watch…"

"Heh, I believe that when I see it. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a party to attend to celebrate my winnings before I head over to Mt. Moon." Gary boasted before he laughed. Gary walked out the door and towards a red convertible that had been full of cheerleaders, waving their pom-poms and cheering for Gary.

"Oh, it is so on!" Miyu slammed a hand on the table, causing Atsuo to flinch. "C'mon Atsuo, we're getting my pokémon and finding that gym leader."


	10. Chapter 9

Miyu and Atsuo stared up at the Pewter Gym before approaching the large door. Miyu twisted the knob only to find it locked. "Damn, locked…" she muttered under her breath.

"M-Maybe we should try coming back another—"

Miyu began to pound her fists on the door, causing Atsuo to sweat-drop. "Hey, open up! I need to get inside!" Miyu shouted.

"Who's out there making all that noise?" About half a minute later, the sound of locks being turned were heard before the door was slowly pushed open. Standing before them was older teenager with spiky brown hair wearing a brown shirt underneath a green vest with some dark brown pants.

The young man stared down at the two trainers and frowned. "Why are you out here banging on my door?"

"I've come here for a gym battle, dur!" she exclaimed as if it was obvious.

He folded his arms over his chest and frowned. "I just got done with a gym battle, try coming back at another time when I'm ready." He exclaimed, shutting the door.

Miyu quickly put her foot in between the door, not satisfied with his answer. "Wait, did this guy happen to have spiky brown hair and an arrogant attitude?" she asks.

He rubbed his chin for a moment before he nodded. "Yeah, I think he went by the name of Gary. Yeah, that's it Gary Oak."

'_That bastard…'_ she fumed in her mind.

"Listen um…" she trailed off, not knowing his name.

"Brock," he added.

"Right, Brock. Listen, my name's Ichirou and that guy happens to be my rival and he's always one step ahead of me. If you just let me battle you, I'll be able to prove him wrong and show him that I'm just as good as him, maybe even better. So I can't let him show me up so…please?" she begged, clasping her hands together in a dramatic manner.

Brock stayed quiet for a moment, contemplating his answer before he opened his mouth to speak. "Fine, wait here." He sighed in defeat.

She grinned, removing her foot from the door before he slammed it shut.

Atsuo sighed, shaking her head. "I-I don't think that was a very good idea to force him into battling you Ichirou." She frowned.

"Eh, who cares? He agreed to battle me and that's all that matters right? I'll be one step ahead of Gary in no time." She grinned mischievously.

Atsuo sighed, shaking her head in disapproval. She was beginning to see that Gary's winning was taking a toll on Miyu and going to her head, more so than usual.

Brock stood on one side of the rocky battle field while Miyu stood on the opposite side. Atsuo was sitting on the sidelines, holding her Bulbasaur in her lap. _'I hope she doesn't get carried away…'_

* * *

"It's a good thing I had extra potions on me because I usually don't take a challenge right after I just finished one, but who am I to stop a person from their goal?"

Miyu grinned and nodded in approval before Brock continued. "You're persistent; both an admirable, yet not a trait that will always work in your favor."

Miyu frowned at this, no longer wanting to beat around the bush. She pulls off a pokeball from her belt. "So, what are the rules Brock?" she asks.

"You're only permitted to use two pokémon in this battle. The one with the pokémon standing wins." Brock explained.

"Sure, sounds easy enough." Miyu agreed.

"Alright," Brock nods pulling a pokeball off his belt, tossing it into the air. "Go Geodude!"

A large gray boulder like pokémon with muscular arms popped out from the pokeball, staring at Miyu to wait for her next move. "A Geodude huh," Miyu whispered to herself. _'I remember being told he's a ground type. So with Poliwag, I've got the advantage.'_ She smirks to herself.

"Poliwag, you're up!" she shouted, tossing out his pokeball into the air. Poliwag appeared and stood on the battle field in front of Geodude, his tail wagging back and forth a bit.

"A water-type huh, smart move…" Brock murmured to himself. "You may have the advantage, but it doesn't mean I'll be easy to beat. Geodude, use Tackle!"

"Dodge and use Bubble!" Miyu countered.

Geodude flew towards Poliwag, intending to tackle him. Poliwag quickly jumped out of the way to dodge, releasing a flurry of bubbles right at Geodude. "Nice one Poliwag!" Miyu cheered.

Brock frowned as Geodude took the attack head-on, but eventually regained himself. "Use Rock Throw!" Brock commanded.

"Geo," he nodded, punching his fist into the ground, causing the ground to shake underneath Miyu and Poliwag. Small rocks rose from the ground before they were tossed at Poliwag.

"Use your tail to block them!" Miyu ordered.

Poliwag quickly jumped in the air, spinning in midair while smacking a few rocks back at Geodude who quickly avoided them. Geodude threw an even larger rock that was twice Poliwag's size and managed to knock Poliwag right to the ground.

'_Crap…'_ Miyu frowned, staring at her Poliwag. Poliwag quickly jumped to its feet, shaking off the attack and Miyu smirked.

"Use Hypnosis!"

"Counter it with Defense Curl!"

Right before Geodude began to curl up into a ball; his eyes were mesmerized by Poliwag's stomach that began to swirl around clockwise. Geodude began to sway back and forth before falling into a deep slumber. Brock bit down on his lip whilst Miyu smirked even more. "Finish it off with Water Gun before he wakes up!"

Poliwag did what he was told before unleashing a spew of water from his mouth, pushing back Geodude a few good several feet off the battle field. Geo stayed motionless, a dizzy look in his eyes that indicated he was too tired to move on. "Geodude is unable to battle, Poliwag wins!" the referee shouted.

"Yes! Nice work out there Poliwag!" Miyu shouted with glee. Brock rushed over to his Geodude and smiled a bit before returning his rock pokémon.

"Not bad, but this battle is far from over my friend." Brock smirked a bit. He pulled off another pokeball from his belt, tossing it out onto the battle field. "Go Onix!"

A large rock pokémon that resembled a snake stood before Poliwag and Miyu. Both of their faces turned white at the large size of the snake-like pokémon. She pulled out her pokedex, scanning it.

'_Onix, the rock snake pokémon. It usually lives underground, it searches for food while boring its way through the ground at fifty miles per hour.'_

'_Fifty miles, that's crazy! I'll have to find a way to keep him from going underground…' _she thinks. _'But how am I supposed to do that?'_

"Alright Poliwag, use your Water Gun!"

"Counter it with Tackle!" Brock retorted.

Onix let out a roar, raising its tail to block the water gun before slamming Poliwag with it. Poliwag was forcibly thrown off the battle field before colliding with the wall. Poliwag sat there motionless, completely exhausted. "Poliwag is unable to battle, Onix wins!"

Brock nodded in satisfaction and Miyu quickly rushed over to her Pokémon's side. She picked him up and held him in her arms. "Nice job out there Poliwag, I'll let you rest…" She returned Poliwag before taking off her last pokeball.

She glared at Onix and Brock before staring down at her pokeball. _'All I got left is Charmander, and a fire-type isn't very strong against a rock-type. But I've come too far to back down now!'_

"Charmander, you're up!" she shouted, releasing Charmander.

Charmander let out a small cry from its mouth, the fire on his tail getting a little bigger. Charmander cowered a bit in fear when Onix stared him down. Brock stared at the Charmander and looked back up at Miyu. "You realize you're at a disadvantage here right?" Brock reminded her.

Miyu narrowed her eyes at him. "I know that, but I'm not gonna back down and forfeit the match. That's the coward's way out!" she shouted.

"Fine, have it your way…"

* * *

**Evafan24:** Ah, looks like it's a battle between Charmander and Onix. How will Miyu cope in the final battle? You'll have to stay tuned and find out. Feedback is welcome, or critique if you have any tips. There's always room for improvement. Just no flames please. ^^;;


	11. Chapter 10

"Onix use Tackle!" Brock ordered.

"Counter with Smoke Screen Charmander!" Miyu shouted.

Charmander released a smoke screen that covered the battle field, but had been unable to dodge Onix's tail when he raised it to tackle Charmander. Charmander skidded back a few feet into the black smoke. Onix looked around for Charmander, but Miyu countered before he could locate him. "Good, now use Ember!"

Charmander followed orders, running towards Onix and releasing flames from his mouth. Onix let out a weak cry, getting hit by the weak flames, but he quickly shook it off as if it were nothing. Brock smirked lightly, folding his arms over his chest. "Fire attacks don't do much damage to a rock type like Onix."

Miyu gritted her teeth in anger, clenching her fists at her side._ 'He's right, but I don't have much to work with at this point. I'll just have to hope for the best.'_

"Use Screech!" Brock shouted. Onix nodded, opening his mouth and releasing a loud eerie screech. Charmander winced at the harsh sound, shutting his eyes to try and block out the noise. Miyu covered her ears, wincing at the sound. _'Ugh, that noise. It's like nails on a chalkboard!'_

"Underground Onix!" Brock ordered.

'_Oh crap…'_ she cursed in her mind.

Onix quickly dove underground, leaving Charmander completely dumbfounded and out in the open. "Try to find Onix Charmander!"

"It's no use; Onix is just too fast when he's underground._" _Brock stated. "Once he comes back up, it's over…"

Charmander began to run when he felt the ground shake underneath him again. Onix suddenly popped out from the ground, bashing Charmander from behind and right in the air. Charmander soon fell to the ground, laying flat on his back. Charmander let out a weak cry, wincing from the pain he could feel all over his body.

'_This isn't good. If this goes on much longer, I'll lose this battle, but I can't forfeit! I refuse to lose and let Gary beat me!'_

"Up on your feet Charmander, you can do it!" Miyu shouted.

Charmander lays motionless for a moment before slowly rolling on his stomach and slowly push himself up to his feet. Brock stared at her Charmander in amazement. _'How can he still be standing?'_

Brock couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Charmander, that trainer of his was pushing him a bit too hard. "You should forfeit the match while your Charmander can still stand." Brock warned her.

Atsuo stared at Miyu worriedly before glancing down at Charmander. _'It doesn't look like he can stand much longer.' _She thinks. "Ichirou, you should fall back! If you forfeit now you can-"

"I'm not gonna forfeit!" Miyu shouted harshly. Brock narrowed his eyes at her, shaking his head in disapproval.

Onix stared down at the panting Charmander, waiting for Brock to make the next move. "Use Bind Onix!"

Onix nodded, his tail slowly pulling Charmander in and wrapping around his little body, slowly cutting off his air supply. "C-Char…" he cried out weakly, struggling in Onix's iron grip. Onix only squeezed tighter the more he struggled.

Miyu stared at the scene before her, watching Charmander's life slowly slip away the longer Onix squeezed him. She bit down hard on her lip to the point where she almost drew blood. She didn't want to lose this battle, but if she didn't say something now, the battle wouldn't be the only thing she'd lose.

'_This can't go on…if he holds him much longer he'll—'_

"LET HIM GO!" Miyu ordered, running towards the Onix.

Onix slowly loosened his grip on Charmander's body, letting him fall. Miyu ran even faster and caught Charmander in her arms before he could hit the ground. She slowly fell to her knees, burying her face into Charmander. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Charmander." She whispered.

Atsuo and Brock quickly rushed to her side to see if Charmander was alright. Brock squatted own next to Miyu and gently placed a hand on Charmander's pulse. "He's breathing, but just barely. You better get him to the Pokémon Center."

Miyu nodded weakly, staring down at her Charmander who remained motionless in her arms.

Miyu paced back and forth in the waiting room impatiently while Atsuo was sitting nearby, watching her move back and forth. "Ichirou, you should sit down. Pacing around back and forth isn't going to help."

"I can't help it Atsuo. I'm worried about Charmander!"

Atsuo opened her mouth to reply, but quickly closes her mouth when she sees Miyu shaking. "This is all my fault. I pushed Charmander too hard and was so focused on winning; I was too stubborn to know when to call it quits." She whispered, clenching both her fists at her side.

Atsuo stared at her friend sadly, slowly reaching out a hand to comfort her, but she slowly pulled her arm back. "Ich…"

"It's because of me that Charmander is hurt, I don't deserve to be called a trainer…trainers don't force their pokémon to fight when they're too tired to go on." she whispered.

The more she thought about how hard she pushed her Charmander, the guiltier she felt. Tears began to cloud her vision the more she thought about it. _'I'm sorry Charmander…'_

Atsuo watched Miyu rush out the waiting room in tears. "Ichirou wait don't—"Miyu ignored her friend's pleas and she sighed.

Miyu stood outside the Pokémon Center entrance, leaning against the building while staring at the ground sadly. Her mind kept replaying how the battle went down in Brock's Gym and she couldn't stop thinking about it. She felt like such a fool.

'_Maybe…maybe Gary had a point about the whole idiot thing. I didn't exactly approach my battle against Brock the way I should have and I shouldn't have forced him or Charmander to battle in the first place. None of this would've happened if I hadn't been so keen on beating Gary rather than focusing on my own pokémon.'_

She continues to stare at the ground, biting down on her lip again to keep from crying. She sniffed, quickly rubbing her eyes to keep them from clouding up her vision, only to make them slip and stream down her face. "Hey, you okay?"

Her head quickly snapped up, her tear-stained face looking up in surprise at who was talking to her. Her eyes widen in surprise at the boy who stood before her, his clothes tattered with dirt and a couple of grass stains. _'A-Ash…?'_

_

* * *

_

Eva: Oooh, looks like things are about to get interesting. Ash has decided to show up in the picture. How will this affect Miyu/Ichirou? Well, you'll have to stay tuned and find out. I'd like to thank everyone who's commented on my story. Too lazy to name names since I'm kinda in a rush to put this up, but you know who you all are. XD


	12. Chapter 11

Miyu stared at Ash blankly as he stood in front of him with a look of concern. Miyu hadn't expected to run into Ash, especially in this particular situation. _'Why, why did I have to _run_ into him now of all times?' _Then again, it could have been worse, at least it wasn't Gary. If he had seen her crying, she'd never hear the end of it from him.

"So, what's the matter?" Ash asked again, snapping Miyu from her thoughts. Miyu quickly rubbed her eyes and turned away from him so that her back was facing him.

"It's…it's nothing, don't worry about it." She reassured him in a low whisper. Ash frowned at her and continued to stare at her before he walked over to her and stood in front of her, now leaning against the Pokémon Center as well.

"I'm sure if you talk about it, you'll feel better." He reassured her with a weak smile.

Miyu frowned refusing to look at him. _'Why doesn't he go bug someone else? Why bug me of all people?'_ she thinks. "Why don't you just mind your own business? I didn't ask for your pity you know." She spat.

Ash's smile was quickly replaced with a glare. "Well excuse me for feeling concerned."

"Look, I don't want to be bothered right now, so just leave me alone okay?" Miyu grumbled. She sat down and wrapped her arms around her legs, holding them close to her chest as she buried her face in between her knees.

Ash continued to glare at her before he spoke up again. "Fine then, I'll just leave you alone then." Ash began to walk off until Miyu's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Wait," She quickly spoke up, now staring at his back.

Ash stopped in his tracks, standing there for a brief moment before he turned around to face her. "I'm…sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just a little upset right now from what happened." Miyu apologized.

He folded his arms over his chest and frowned a bit. "So, what exactly happened?" Ash asked.

Miyu let out a small sigh before she began. "Well, I just finished my first battle with Brock the gym leader. It didn't exactly go as I had planned." She said.

"So you lost…?" he slowly asked.

Miyu gave him a look that clearly spoke _'Are you seriously asking me that?'_ Ash sweat-dropped and smiled nervously before she continued. "Yeah, I did…but that's not really what I'm upset about."

"Then what are you upset about?" He asks.

Miyu ran a hand through her short and somewhat unkempt brown hair, staring at the ground for a moment. "I lost…because I pushed my Pokémon too hard."

"Oh," He replied back quietly. Ash couldn't help but frown. He could understand where she was coming from on this.

"Yeah, and if I hadn't been so keen on trying to win instead of focusing on my Pokémon's health and knowing when to call it quits, my Pokémon wouldn't be in the infirmary right now."

Ash stayed quiet for a moment before he walked over to Miyu again. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, you aren't the only one whose pokémon is in the infirmary." Ash admitted and frowned at the thought of his injured Pikachu.

Miyu looked at him a bit surprised and Ash nodded his head. "My Pikachu and I tried battling Brock the other day, but we got beat pretty badly." Ash admits solemnly.

She couldn't help but think how on earth Ash managed to get to Pewter City before she did, but she knew that wasn't important at the moment and she made a note to herself to ask him later. "Have you heard anything from Nurse Joy about your Pikachu's condition?" she asks.

Ash shook his head in reply. "I wish I knew. I've been really worried, hoping that he's going to be okay."

Miyu nodded her head in reply. "Yeah, I know how you feel. I've been waiting for a while to hear back from Nurse Joy about my Pokémon, but no such luck yet." Miyu sighed.

Ash nodded in understanding before Miyu continued. "If I hadn't been so keen on beating Gary, this probably wouldn't have happened." She grumbled under her breath, although more to herself.

Ash blinks twice, taking in what she just said before he responded. "Wait, did you just say Gary?" he asks.

Miyu sat there for a moment, quickly realizing that she had said her thoughts out loud and inwardly cursed. "No," she quickly lied.

"Did you mean Gary Oak?" Ash stood up from his spot, staring down at her for an answer.

'_Looks like the cat is out of the bag, might as well tell him the truth.' _She thought, inwardly kicking herself for her mistake.

Miyu let out a small sigh before she nodded in reply. "Yes, Gary Oak." Suddenly, Ash's mood had quickly turned sour at the thought of the arrogant brunette mocking him and calling him by his least favorite nickname, Ashy-boy.

"Man, I can't stand that guy!" Ash fumed, clenching his fists. "He always thinks he's better than me and everyone else!"

"Ugh, I know right? That guy really gets under my skin sometimes…" Miyu quickly added.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Ash agreed. After ranting on about Gary for a couple more minutes, both pokémon trainers stayed quiet. Ash suddenly broke the silence with a question.

"So, how do you know Gary anyway?" Ash suddenly asks. Miyu suddenly froze up at his question, taken completely off guard. She quickly racked her brain, hoping to think up a quick, yet believable lie to fool Ash. She sighed in defeat, unable to come up with a single lie.

'_Oh who am I kidding? He already knows about the whole Gary situation, I might as well tell him everything.'_ She groaned under her breath at the thought of finally revealing her secret.

Miyu looked to her left and right, making sure there were no onlookers before she leaned in, cupping a hand around her mouth. "So…can you can keep a secret?" she asks in a low whisper.

Ash stares at her confused before he nods his head. "Uh…yeah, sure."

"And what I'm about to tell you, you promise not to utter a word of this to anyone."

Again, Ash nodded his head. "I promise I won't."

"Swear it?"

"Okay, I swear!"

Miyu stared at him for a moment or two longer before she let out a long sigh she didn't know she had been holding and began to explain from square one.

* * *

Eva: Looks like Miyu's finally gonna tell Ash her big secret, who would've thought he would be the first to know? But will he be able to keep his mouth shut long enough until she's ready to tell everyone? XDD You'll have to keep reading and find out.


	13. Chapter 12

"So, that's pretty much explains everything. Why I'm dressed this way and all, and why I'm doing this." Miyu finished, letting out a small sigh of relief.

Ash just stared at her, completely flabbergasted. She stretched out her arms and sighed. "Actually, it feels pretty good getting that off my chest. It feels like a big weight's been lifted off my shoulders, it's not easy keeping a secret as big as this." She chuckled.

Ash continued to stare at her, the same expression plastered on his face. Miyu looked at him, raising an eyebrow at his frozen face, waving a hand in front of it. "Your face is going to stick that way if you keep it up." She warned.

"I-I just…can't believe it. This is crazy!" Ash suddenly shouted.

Miyu blinked before she laughed sheepishly in reply. "Yeah, I know. It's a little crazy, but-"Ash quickly cut her off before she could finish, pointing his finger at her accusingly.

"Crazy that you think you can fool me with such a stupid story. You're not Miyu, you look nothing like her." Ash said, with a frown. "I'm gonna need some proof."

Miyu's eye twitched, was he really that dense to think that? "It's the truth, I'm not making it up!" she shouted.

"Yeah right, anyone can make up a crazy story like that. So how do I know you're not trying to impersonate her? And besides, I doubt Miyu would go to such levels for a disguise." Ash snorted in reply, folding his arms over his chest.

"You want proof? Fine then…" She pulled off a pokeball from her belt and tossed it in the air, releasing her Poliwag. Poliwag let out a small cry and Miyu quickly caught him in her arms. Fortunately for Poliwag, his injury from the previous battle weren't as serious as Charmander's injuries and was returned to Miyu earlier.

Ash stared down at the Poliwag before looking back up at Miyu, raising an eyebrow. "A Poliwag?" he asks.

"Remember a few months ago, when we all went fishing down by the nearby pond behind the school? I caught this Poliwag that day." She explained.

Ash tapped his chin in thought, trying to remember that day.

* * *

"Miyu, you shouldn't get your hopes up." Atsuo warned with a frown. "I doubt you'll catch something that's as big as a Gyarados in such a small pond."

"The news said the water pokémon are biting today because it's perfect weather for fishing. That's gotta mean I'll be catching something awesome today! And besides, you don't know how deep this pond is, it may be small but you can't even see the bottom." Miyu grinned at her friend as she began setting up her fishing gear.

"I'm just being realistic," Atsuo sighed.

"Aw, why do you always gotta try and ruin my fun? Don't you have any faith in me?" Miyu pouts.

"You know, you should listen to your friend for once. There's no way you'd be able to catch anything, let alone a Gyarados." A voice spoke from behind the two girls.

They both turned around and both their eyes widened at the sight of what was standing in front of them. "G-Gary, what the heck are you wearing?" Miyu said, pointing down at his outfit while trying to hold back the urge to laugh.

Gary was wearing an oversized orange fisherman's outfit that looked to be two sizes too big on him. "This happens to be my Gramp's lucky fisherman's outfit. He managed to catch a Gyarados wearing this baby." He boasted with a smirk.

Miyu couldn't hold her laughter in any longer and suddenly burst into a laughing fit, causing Gary to shoot a glare in her direction. "I bet you'll only scare away the pokémon wearing such an obnoxious and ugly outfit." She mocked in the midst of her laughter.

"Oh yeah, well you won't be saying that once I catch my pokémon and prove you wrong." Gary retorted. At that point, Miyu had managed to calm her laughter and return the glare.

"Really, is that a bet?"

"You bet it is."

"Fine, you've got yourself a bet." Miyu held out her hand for Gary to shake which he was hesitant to shake at first, but eventually shook her hand.

Atsuo looked between the two competitive trainers and frowned. _'Um, what just happened? I thought we were just gonna be fishing today, not make it into a big competition.'_

"Whoever catches the biggest water pokémon wins." Miyu stated.

"What do I get when I win?" Gary asks with a smirk.

Miyu shot him a glare before she responded. "Don't be so cocky. The loser will have to do the winner's homework for an entire week."

Gary tapped his chin in thought before he nodded. "Sure, but along with that, you'll have to be my official butler during that week. Like carry my books around at school, maybe get some juice for me if I'm in the mood for something to drink or-"

"Like hell I will!" Miyu seethed. "You can expect that juice box to go straight up your-"

"Is it a deal or not?" Gary interrupted.

Miyu stayed quiet for a moment, thinking how it would be if she won and if Gary was her personal butler for the week. This was a once in a lifetime offer she just couldn't pass up. "Fine, it's a deal. And if I win you'll have to do the exact same thing for me. "

"Alright then, may the best man win?" Gary smirked.

"SHE intends to…" she stuck her tongue out at him. Both Gary and Miyu put their bait on their fishing rods before putting them into the water. Miyu looked over at Atsuo and grinned.

"You want in on this bet too Atsu-chan?" she asks.

She shook her head in reply and smiled nervously. "Um, no thanks, I think I'll just watch instead." She replied.

Miyu shrugged her shoulders, turning back to face the pond. "Suit yourself."

"Hey you guys!" an energetic voice suddenly shouted.

The three young teens turned around, seeing a cheerful looking Ash Ketchum carrying a fishing pole and wearing a fisherman's outfit similar to Gary's. Miyu and Gary exchanged looks for a moment before smirking and looking at Ash.

Ash smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head once he finally reached them. "I didn't think you guys would be here fishing too."

"The more, the merrier." Miyu insisted with a sly grin. Ash smiled before he began to set up his fishing gear, oblivious to the sly looks they were giving him.

"But, we're gonna make this a bit more interesting." Gary said, the smirk never leaving his face.

Ash looked at him dumbfounded. "Oh, interesting how?"

Atsuo sighed, shaking her head in reply. _'Here we go again…'_

_

* * *

_

"I'm gonna win this bet." Ash grinned, staring at his fishing lure float in the water. "I bet I'll catch something huge with my bait."

Gary rolled his eyes at Ash's enthusiasm to win. "Don't count on it Ashy-Boy."

Ash glared at Gary, gripping onto his pole. "Just you wait Gary! I'll catch something even bigger than the both of you combined." Ash scowled.

Miyu and Atsuo frowned as the two continued to bicker. Miyu shut her eyes as she tried to tune them out and concentrate on trying to get a bite. Her thoughts were cut short when she suddenly felt a tug on her fishing rod. "A-Ah, I think I got something!" she shouted with glee, quickly reeling in her line.

Ash and Gary immediately ceased their arguing and looked at Miyu in disbelief. "What?"

"And…I think it's a big one too!" She quickly stood up from her spot, pulling in the line a bit more when she felt another sharp tug.

"Maybe it's a Seaking, or a Vaporeon! Ooh, or maybe a-"She blinked when a small Poliwag was pulled out of the water and landed beside her.

Gary stared at the Poliwag for a moment before he started laughing, clutching onto his stomach with one arm while he held onto his fishing pole with the other. "Man, you're even more pathetic than I thought. It's not even bigger than a Magikarp." he snorted in the midst of his laughter.

Miyu scowled, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink out of embarrassment. All that bragging and all she caught was a Poliwag? Miyu looked down at the Poliwag who stared at her cutely, his head cocked to the side innocently. She was taken a bit off guard when the Poliwag suddenly jumped into her arms happily and cuddled her. "Poliwag!" he cried out happily.

Ash stared down at the Poliwag and smiled a little. "It might be small, but it is kind of cute." Ash said. Miyu couldn't help but nod her head a little in agreement, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Yeah,"

Once Gary finished laughing, he quickly jumped in the conversation. "So, you gonna toss it back or what?" Gary asks.

Miyu stayed quiet for a moment, contemplating her answer. She stared back at the Poliwag and smiled. "I think I'm gonna keep him."

Gary rolled his eyes in reply and Ash smiled. "Heh, good luck raising that tadpole **Newt**." Gary snorted under his breath.

Both Poliwag and Miyu glared at him. Poliwag jumped out of her arms and sprayed a Water Gun right at Gary's face, soaking him from head to toe. Miyu, Atsuo and Ash looked at each other before they busted out laughing.

"Yeah, I think Poliwag and I are gonna get along just fine." Miyu grinned, patting him on the head.

"Don't praise him for that!" Gary shouted, wiping off his face with his free hand.

"Lighten up Gary, it's not like you didn't deserve it." Ash added in, chuckling a little.

"Shut-up, I don't wanna-"

Gary and Ash suddenly cut their argument short when they both felt sharp tugs on their fishing rods. "I got something!" the boys shouted in unison.

Miyu and Poliwag exchanged glances before staring at the scene before them, watching the two boys try to reel in the Pokémon. She noticed both strings were being pulled in together. "Um, I think you guys are stuck together." She pointed out.

"What, Ash let go this one is mine!" Gary claimed, reeling his line even more.

"No way, you let go!" Ash retorted, quickly pulling his line in as well. It was now a game of tug-of-war between Ash and Gary, seeing who would pull in the Pokémon first. After a few more seconds of pulling and reeling with all their might, they both fell backwards onto the ground and their water pokémon landed beside them with a lazy look in its eye. "Slooooow…" it yawned.

"Oh, looks like you both caught the same Slowpoke since your fishing rods got stuck together." Atsuo laughed a little.

Gary stared at the Slowpoke for a moment before he looked at Ash and smirked. "Looks like we both beat her Ashy-boy."

Ash blinked, a bit confused at first but he suddenly grinned and turned to Miyu. "A bet's a bet…"

Miyu sweat-dropped, slowly backing away from the boys before jumping behind Atsuo in an attempt to shield herself, "N-Now hold on a second, that's cheating! You can't do that!"

"Oh, I think we can Newt. Besides, we never added a rule that says we can't catch the same pokémon together." Gary smirked. Miyu quickly turned to Atsuo for an answer, and merely shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

Somehow, saying 'I told you so' to Miyu just wouldn't cut it.

* * *

**Evafan24:** So now you guys know where the nickname 'Newt' came from. It was explained in one of my earlier chapters but I don't know if you all remember that or not. Anyway, be sure to keep reading and watching for my next update. Reviews and messages are much appreciated. ^^


	14. Chapter 13

"So, now do you believe me?" Miyu asks, putting her hands on her hips. Ash could only nod in reply, unable to deny that she was indeed Miyu Momose.

Miyu grinned in reply, "Well, I'm glad you've come to your senses Ash."

"Yeah, I remember that day! That's when Gary started calling you Ne-"Miyu quickly cut him off before he could even finish.

"Don't even think about it." She growled. "It's already bad enough I've got _**him **_calling me that."

"Oh, sorry," Ash laughed sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

Miyu returned her Poliwag back to his pokeball before putting it back on her belt. "So, think I can trust you to keep your mouth shut long enough until I'm ready to tell everyone?"

Ash quickly nodded his head and grinned. "You can count on me! I swear I won't tell a soul!" he swore with a nod of his head. "I'll carry your secret to the grave!"

This only caused Miyu to raise an eyebrow, as if questioning his sanity. "Um, alright then." Miyu still couldn't help but have second thoughts about this. Was it really a good idea to tell Ash all of this? _'Well, it's too late to turn back now. I'll just have to trust that he can…'_

Suddenly, the front door of the Pokémon Center slid open as Nurse Joy followed by a girl with red hair tied up in a high ponytail. Her outfit consisted of a yellow t-shirt with red straps on the front attached to some blue shorts. "There you are, we've been looking all over for you Ash." The red headed girl frowned, putting her hands on her hips.

Ash looked over at the girl and smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry Misty." She rolled her eyes and sighed, not surprised in the least at Ash's behavior. She turned her attention to the boy next to her, well a somewhat girly looking boy nonetheless and looked at him in question. "Who's this?"

Ash looked at Miyu for a moment before turning looking at Misty. "Oh, this is my friend from my old school, Mi-OW!" Ash yelped, holding onto his foot. He shot a dirty look in her direction which she gladly returned before looking at Misty.

"My name's Ichirou." Miyu quickly lied while smiling. Misty and Nurse Joy exchanged glances for a brief moment. "Well, we both came looking for you to come and let you see your Pokémon."Nurse Joy added.

"Really, that's great!" Ash exclaimed happily. Nurse Joy nodded her head and smiled before she turned to Miyu. "By the way, a friend of yours was looking for you too Ichirou."

Miyu nods, knowing Nurse Joy was referring to her friend Atsuo. "Tell her I'll be there in a second. I need a word with Ash."

"Alright," Nurse Joy went back inside and Misty stood there, staring at them for a moment before she followed after Nurse Joy.

"Idiot, what was that about?" Miyu scolded. "Whatever happened to carrying my secret to the grave?"

Ash frowned, "Sorry, it just sort of slipped out. Besides, it's not like you told me to call you by anything else."

"Well that slip-up could mean the end of my plan!" she warned. "I go by the name of Ichirou from now on, not Miyu got it?"

Ash sighed in reply, but he nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I got it."

Miyu smiled at him. "Good, now let's go see how our Pokémon are doing."

* * *

"Your Pokémon should be just fine. A little exhausted still, but they'll be back to normal by tomorrow with some proper rest. So there's no need to worry." Nurse Joy reassured the two trainers.

Ash and Miyu both sighed in relief. "Thanks Nurse Joy," they said in unison.

She nodded in reply. "Just, try not to over-do it alright?" she chuckled a bit before walking off.

"Well, it's good to hear that the Pokémon are okay." Atsuo chirped with a small smile. Misty nodded her head in agreement. "I just hope you guys will take Nurse Joy's advice seriously."

"Yeah," Ash and Miyu both replied, smiling in a sheepish manner. Ash suddenly blushed when he heard his stomach let out a low grumble. "Guess I was so worried about my Pikachu, I wasn't thinking about how hungry I was."

"That's a first," Misty giggled, causing Ash to scowl.

"How bout we go stop by the cafeteria for something to eat then? They should still be serving dinner since it's only seven." Atsuo suggested.

"Sounds good," Miyu agreed.

* * *

"So, how do you three know each other?" Misty questions.

"The three of us all went to the same school together back in Viridian City." Miyu explained, taking another bite from her plate full of food.

Misty tapped her chin in thought, her eyes suddenly lighting up in realization. "Oh, you mean the Viridian City Academy?"

"Yup, the very one," Miyu nodded her head.

"So, you three are all looking to be Pokémon trainers?" Misty assumed.

"Well, Ash and I are the only ones looking to be Pokémon trainers. Atsuo here told me she wants to be a breeder." She replied, nudging Atsuo in the arm playfully.

Misty looked over at Atsuo who smiled in a sheepish manner. Ash pushed his dinner plate aside, a new-found determination in his eyes.

"Well, actually Misty, I'm looking to be a Pokémon Master, not just a Pokémon Trainer. I'm going all the way to the top!" Ash shouted, punching his fist in the air in enthusiasm.

"Not unless I beat you there first of course." Miyu grinned, causing Ash to scowl again.

Atsuo couldn't help but chuckle a bit. _'Just like old times…'_ she thought.

"Well if you're looking to be the best, you'll have to beat all eight gym leaders first before you can even think about challenging the Pokémon League." Misty added.

"No problem," Ash smiled confidently. "We may have both lost to Brock, but we're definitely gonna beat him for sure the next time we face him." Ash clenches his gloved fists in determination and Miyu nods her head in agreement.

"Excuse me," a voice interrupted. The three trainers looked up to see a man with a spiky brown beard with a red hat to cover his eyes and hair, standing in front of their table. Needless to say, he looked like a pretty shady character. "You're Ash Ketchum correct?" he asks in a deep monotone voice.

Ash and Miyu exchanged looks before he nodded. "Y-Yeah, that's me."

"Follow me, I've got something I want to show you." He said before he began walking off. Ash sat there for a moment, considering whether or not he should follow him or not. Taking his chances Ash stood up from the table and quickly followed after him.

"Wonder what that was all about…" Misty murmured, watching the two walk from the window.

"Don't know about you, but I'm not gonna just sit here and wait for him to come back. I'm gonna go see what's up." Miyu pushed her plate aside before she stood up from her chair. "You coming Atsuo?" she asks.

Atsuo waved her hands in front of her face in a defensive manner. "No thanks, I think I'll just stay here for a little while and finish my—"Atsuo yelped a loud 'Hey!' when Miyu suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her along.

Misty sweat-dropped, watching the others run off in a hurry. _'Well, if you can't beat them, join them.' _She quickly puts some money on the table before following after them.

* * *

"Wonder what they're talking about in there?" Miyu whispered, pressing her ear up against the window in an attempt to listen to the conversation.

"Quiet, we won't be able to hear anything if you keep talking." Misty whispered back.

Atsuo stood behind the two female trainers and sighed, wanting no part in this. She was dragged into following Ash and the mysterious man all the way to his house by Miyu after all. "Hey guys, maybe we should just—"Atsuo was cut off when the front door to the house was suddenly opened.

"Crap, hide!" Miyu exclaimed in a hurried tone.

Misty and Atsuo quickly exchanged looks before running off in different directions. "I didn't mean without me!" she suddenly shouted.

"Hey, who's out there?" a deep male voice shouted.

She quickly covered her mouth, inwardly berating herself for being so loud. Now she knew they probably overheard her for sure. _'Oops…'_

_

* * *

_

"So you followed us out here did ya?" the man said, folding his arms across his chest in a scolding manner.

Miyu looked away from his gaze, "Well, it wasn't just me." she mumbled, forcing her eyes on the ground.

"T-Technically, I was dragged here." Atsuo pointed out with a sheepish smile.

"Traitor," Miyu grumbled under her breath. "I thought you'd be on my side."

Atsuo smiled in an apologetic manner, but Miyu paid no heed to this. Misty merely rolled her eyes, staring at Ash for a moment. "So, what did you want Ash for?" Misty asks.

Ash finally decided to take his turn to speak up. "Flint wanted to show me something that might help me win my battle against Brock." He said with a grin.

The three girls looked up at said Flint who simply nodded. "There's a chance I might be able to help out his Pikachu with my power plant." He explained.

Miyu stared at him a bit baffled. _'A power plant, huh?' _she thought.

As if Flint had read her thoughts he quickly added, "I've got a hydro electric plant that could give his pokémon a quick power boost to help him out. Unfortunately, the river is dry which leaves the plant underpowered."

"So, how do we get it to work?" Ash asks.

"We'll have to find a way to get the wheel moving. The wheel itself is what powers the whole plant." Flint replied.

The four trainers stayed quiet, as if thinking of a way on what could get the power plant moving again. Ash suddenly spoke up, clenching both his fists at his side. "Alright, if that's the case, I'll power the wheel myself." Ash suddenly insisted.

Misty stared at him as if he were crazy. "Ash, what are you talking about? How are you going to power it yourself?"

Ash ignored this statement before he continued. "I'll do whatever it takes to get this power plant moving if it means helping Pikachu. Even if it means I'll have to power the whole power plant myself."

Flint stared at him a bit surprised, but he eventually smiled at him and nodded, admiring the young boy's determination and perseverance. "Then it's settled. We'll get started first thing tomorrow morning with your Pokémon's training."

* * *

**Evafan24**: Ah, another update of my Gary series. Hope you all enjoyed the update, I decided to post up another chapter after reading the reviews I received which I really enjoy recieving.

**Review Responses**

**Alphinia:** Thank you, I try to make sure to have good detail in my story even though it could always be better. And the Japanese names, its true that it's a personal preference. But I think next time I write a Pokemon story, I'll stick with a more...'americanized' name since I'm not using the Japanese names. Thanks for bringing that up. ^^

**Fairy5706green:** Hehe, I agree Ash is awesome...in a goofy energetic sort of way, but awesome nonetheless. X3


	15. Chapter 14

**Evafan24: Woot, Christmas is here! *dances* Hehe, I figured I'd update during the break so I hope you all enjoy it. Think of it as a christmas gift to all my readers and reviewers who are reading this story. Enjoy~**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokemon or it's characters. I do however have full rights to my characters Atsuo and Miyu, along with Akihiko.

* * *

"It's good to hear you've finally made it to the next town Miyu. Sounds like your trip through Viridian Forest was quite the adventure huh?" Miyu's mother giggled through the phone.

This only caused Miyu to sweat-drop and she simply nodded her head in reply. She decided not to let her Mom know about everything little detail about her little adventure in the forest, including her run-in with Gary and a horde of Beedrill that chased after her. The last thing she needed was to have her mother worrying to much for her well-being or teasing her about Gary for that matter.

"Yeah, it wasn't easy getting through. It was hard enough just trying to make it through." She said with a sigh.

Her mother chuckled again. "Well, no one would say this trip would be easy Miyu. Your brother had to go through the forest just like you did before he could earn his first badge."

She nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, I know."

"By the way, how's your training coming along? The first contest is supposed to be held in Cerulean City so I hope it's going well." She chirped in a cheerful tone.

Luckily, Miyu was using an old payphone instead of one the video phones in the Pokémon Center so her mother couldn't see the distraught expression on her face…or the fact that she looked nothing like the Miyu her mother would recognize. Not with her violet colored contacts and her long brown hair being much shorter than it was before. "Uh, it's going great Mom. I plan on working really hard these next few days." She lied with a sheepish smile, slowly wrapping the rubber phone cord around her finger.

Okay, so technically speaking she was only half lying. She was planning on doing some training with her pokémon, but it wasn't for the reasons her mother thought it was for. She was only heading to Cerulean City to obtain her second badge from the next gym leader. Miyu had no intention of entering the contest nor was she registered to enter. "Well, that's good to hear sweetheart. Just be careful out there and be sure to keep me posted alright?"

"Alright mom I will. I'll talk to you later okay?"

"Okay, bye sweetheart!" her mother hung up, and Miyu sighed before putting the phone back on the hook.

'_How on earth am I gonna break it to Mom that I'm not gonna be in the contest? It's not like I could compete in contests and battle gym leaders. Well, I could, but I don't want to have to put my pokémon through all the extra work just so I can keep up this lie. That wouldn't be fair to them.'_ She thought.

"Hey Ichi," a familiar voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

Miyu turned around to see Atsuo standing behind her. "Oh, hey Atsuo." She greeted in a not-so-cheerful voice.

Atsuo blinked, staring at her friend a bit concern at the tone in her voice. "What's the matter?" she asks her.

"Oh, it's nothing really," she reassured her friend with a small smile. "I just got off the phone with Mom."

"What'd she say to you?" she questions.

"Well, she asks how my training was going for the upcoming contest in Cerulean City, and I kind of froze up. I managed to tell her my training was going pretty good for the most part though." Miyu explained.

Atsuo frowned at her friend, but nodded in understanding. "Oh, well I'm sure you'll come up with something." She reassured her.

"Yeah, hopefully," Miyu shrugged, shoving her hands in her pockets.

Atsuo put a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her reassuringly. "Well, right now we should probably go and meet up with Ash and Misty. I think they're waiting on us, well I kind of doubt Ash is." She said with a small laugh. "He's just about as impatient as you and Gary."

Miyu chuckled, lightly punching her friend in the arm in a playful manner. "Alright, let's not keep him waiting then."

* * *

"So, how is this going to work Flint?" Miyu asks.

"It's a pretty straight forward process. Ash is going to manually push the wheel, which should charge up some electricity and give some of that power to his Pikachu. It should power him up and get the water moving as well." Flint explained.

Atsuo and Miyu watched as Flint attached some wires and taped them to Pikachu's cheeks from a machine that would give him the electricity he needed. "Alright, I think we're all set."

Pikachu stared up at the machine that he was being plugged up to in curiosity. "Pika…"

"Guess we should go outside and give Ash the okay to start powering up the wheel." Atsuo spoke up.

Miyu nodded before heading outside with Atsuo where Ash stood on top of the wheel, feeling a bit anxious for his cue to go.

As the two of them headed out back, they saw Misty standing beside the wooden wheel and staring up at Ash with a hint of concern in her eyes. "Ash, you sure you wanna do this? You could always just train with me and then battle Brock." Misty offered.

Ash shook his head in reply. "Sorry Misty, but I have to train and battle Brock my own way. This isn't something you can help me with."

Misty quickly opened her mouth to protest, but Miyu and Atsuo had interrupted before she could. "Flint says he's ready to start when you are. Are you ready?" Atsuo asks.

Ash nodded, now focusing his attention on the wheel before he slowly began to move it manually with his feet by walking on it. The power plant slowly began to power up and sending some electricity towards the machine Pikachu had been plugged up to. Flint watched as Pikachu flinched from the sudden surge of electricity flow through the wires. "Don't worry; your body will adjust to this new power." Flint reassured the small rodent.

Pikachu nodded, slowly forcing its body to let the energy go through him as the electricity levels slowly reached higher and charged up his body. When the machine had finally reached full power, Flint nodded to himself with a small smile. _'Looks like he's ready…'_

Miyu watched Ash with slight envy in her eyes. The fact that he was pushing himself and willing to do whatever it takes to get stronger, that only made her want to work even knew she was going to be left in the dust if she continued to watch from the sidelines like this. Gary was already one step ahead of her. To allow both Ash and Gary to leave her behind, well that was just unacceptable in her book. Miyu briefly turned her attention to Misty and smirked lightly.

"Hey Misty," she said.

Misty turned her attention away from Ash and looked back at Miyu. "Yeah,"

"How about we do some one on one training later?" Miyu suggests.

Misty stared at her a bit surprised, but she noticed Miyu was staring back at Ash, a mixture of envy and determination in her eyes. She couldn't help but smile. "Sure thing…"

Miyu knew from here on in, that Gary wasn't going to be the only person that was standing in her way.

'_I guess Gary isn't the only one I have to keep my eye on…'_

_

* * *

_

**Evafan24**: Looks like Miyu's getting more competition to compete in the upcoming Pokémon League. Will her training with Misty be able to help her enough to defeat Brock? You'll have to stay tuned and find out. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! Happy Holidays!


	16. Chapter 15

Ash and Miyu ran towards the Pewter City Gym, both neck and neck with each other while leaving a cloud of dust behind Atsuo, Misty, and Ash's Pikachu.

"Chu," Pikachu frowns as he watches his trainer run off in a hurry with Miyu.

Atsuo sighs, running a hand through her long brown hair. "Here we go again…"

Misty sweat-drops, watching the two competitive trainers run off in a hurry. "Oh, so this has happened before?" she asks.

"Well, you could say that…"she murmurs.

Atsuo thought back to the day Gary and Miyu were racing towards the school, but decided not to bring it up.

Ash and Miyu finally reach the door to the gym, but were too busy arguing with each other to see who would get to Brock first.

"It's not fair Ash, you should let me battle him!" she growls.

He glares at her and shook his head in protest. "Yeah right, you know I worked my butt off training for this day. It's only fair that I get to challenge him first."

"You moron, what do you think I've been doing all this time? Besides haven't you heard of ladies first?"

"Too bad you're no lady…" he mumbles under his breath.

"Why you little-"

The door were suddenly open, causing Ash and Miyu to finally cease their arguing. Brock came out from behind the door and stares down at both Ash and Miyu. "I should've known it was you two making all that noise out here."

They both exchange looks with each other before looking at Brock and smile eagerly at him. "Brock!" they shout in unison.

* * *

Brock stood in the middle of the gym floor, his arms folded over his chest as he stares at both Ash and Miyu while Misty and Atsuo sat on the bleachers to watch.

"So, you both have come to challenge me again?" he asks.

The two teens nodd in agreement and smile. "Well, I don't plan on doing a double battle, so you two will have to figure out who's going to go first."

Miyu and Ash exchange glances before looking back at Brock.

"I should go first!" they shout in unison.

Brock frowns as he watched the two trainers begin to argue once more.

'_I certainly have my work cut out for me…'_ he thought with a sigh.

Brock finally ceases their argument by throwing out a suggestion. "Why don't we use a coin to decide who will battle me first since you two can't decide yourselves?" he suggests.

Miyu looked at Brock and shrug, as if saying she didn't really care one way or another and Ash nods his head in agreement.

"Alright, I call tails." Miyu spoke up.

"Hey, I was gonna call tails." Ash pouts.

"You snooze you lose Ashy-boy," she stuck her tongue out at him and he glares at her.

"Fine, I'll take heads then."

Brock nods, pulling out a quarter from his pocket before tossing it up in the air and catching it before he stares at it. "It's tails…"

Miyu grinned triumphantly whilst Ash sighed and slowly made his way towards the bleachers in defeat where Misty and Atsuo sat. Misty gave him a sympathetic smile as if to reassure him.

"Don't worry Ash, you'll get your chance to battle him." She reassures him.

"Yeah, but I wanted to battle him now…" he mumbled in a childish manner.

Misty sighed, rolling her eyes before turning her attention towards Miyu and Brock.

Miyu stood on one end of the battle field while Brock stood on the other, holding a pokeball in his hand. "The rules are the same as before. We use only two pokémon. The last pokémon standing wins the battle."

"Got it," Miyu nodded in understanding. She pulls off a pokeball from her belt and enlarges it, staring down at it.

'_I hope all that training pays off…' _she thought, glancing towards Misty briefly before she turns her eyes to focus on Brock.

"Geodude, come on out!" he shouts. Geodude let out a cry once he was released from its pokeball, stretching out its arms a bit.

"Go Charmander!" Miyu shouted, throwing out the pokeball.

Charmander let out a small roar, releasing flames from his mouth to show he was ready to battle.

Brock raises an eyebrow, staring at the small fire lizard with a bit of interest. _'Looks like he's been busy training him…'_ he thought.

"Wonder why he started off with a fire-type…" Ash murmurs to himself.

"I'm sure Ichirou has something up his sleeve…" Atsuo chuckles.

Ash looked at Atsuo a bit baffled, but decided against saying anything and looks back at the battle field.

"Alright Geodude, use Tackle!" Brock orders.

"Dodge and use Smokescreen!" Miyu shouts back.

Geodude flew towards Charmander intending to tackle him, but Charmander quickly jumps out of the way at the last second and releases the smokescreen from its mouth that slowly began to cover the battle field. Geodude looks around its surroundings, hoping to find Charmander before Charmander found him.

"Quick, use Ember!" Miyu shouts.

"D-Dude!"Geodude was taken a bit off guard when flames suddenly hit its body from behind. Geodude winces, quickly turning around and uses his arms to try and protect himself.

"It worked…" she murmurs. Miyu quickly pulls out her pokeball and points it towards Charmander.

"Alright, Charmander return!" Miyu commands, quickly returning Charmander back to its pokeball.

Brock stares at her a bit surprised by Miyu's sudden change of plans, but he continued to focus on the battle itself while waiting for the smokescreen to dissipate. Miyu however was using this to her advantage. She pulls off her second pokeball before tossing it out into the air.

"Let's go Poliwag!" she shouts.

Poliwag pops out from his pokeball before jumping onto the battle field which was still covered by the smokescreen.

"Geodude, use Rock Polish!" Brock orders.

"Okay, now use Rock Throw!" Geodude nods, quickly polishing its body to increase its speed.

Geodude nods again, picking up large rocks and throwing them towards Poliwag's direction.

"Use your double slap to counter the incoming rocks!" Miyu quickly counters.

Poliwag nods, slapping any rocks that flew towards Poliwag with a double slap attack. Geodude moves left and right as the rocks were sent back his way and manages to dodge most of them except a few rocks. At this point, the smokescreen finally clears away, leaving both pokémon out in the open.

"Quick use your Water Gun!"

"Poliwag!" Poliwag cries out and releases a shot of water towards Geodude but Brock quickly tries to counter back.

"Use Defense Curl!"

Geodude curls up into a ball to protect itself from the forceful shot of water. "Don't stop that Water Gun Poliwag!"

Brock grunts, knowing that Geodude could only take so much of that water even with its Defense Curl. Poliwag continues to use Water Gun, pushing Geodude further off the battle field. Geodude let out a small cry of pain before slowly releasing itself from its defensive pose and falling to the ground.

"Geodude is unable to battle, Poliwag wins the first round!" the referee shouted.

Miyu cheers, smiling at her Poliwag. "Nice job Poliwag!"

Brock sighed, returning Geodude back to its ball before putting it away. "Looks like you've been doing some training since our last battle."

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" she grins.

"I hope you don't think you were the only one that's been training…" He smirks faintly, grabbing his final pokeball off his belt before tossing it out into the air.

Brock's Onix roared, staring down at Miyu and Poliwag.

Poliwag frowns, staring up at Onix, a little intimidated by his large size, but stood his ground.

Miyu returns the smirk, not feeling intimidated. "Well that's good; otherwise this battle would be too easy…"

Brock glares at her, clenching a fist at his side. "Onix use Rock Throw!" he shouted.

Onix used his tail to pick up several heavy rocks before tossing them towards Poliwag with ease.

"Poliwag try and dodge them!" she shouts back.

Poliwag jumps left and right to attempt to dodge the large rocks. It was a bit more difficult since Onix was able to lift much heavier rocks than Geodude could. Miyu winces as Poliwag is hit by a few rocks and pushed back a few feet.

"You okay Poliwag?" she shouts.

Poliwag struggles to get up, but manages to get off the ground. "Okay, use Water Gun at Full Power!" she orders.

Poliwag releases another Water Gun, but with more power than the last time. Onix winces from the powerful shot of water. "Onix use Harden, and then follow it up with Tackle!"

Onix quickly hardens its body to decrease the damage of the Water Gun before charging at Poliwag with its body to tackle it. Poliwag winces and is forcefully pushed off the battle field, now lying on its back.

"Poliwag is unable to battle, Onix wins!" the referee shouts.

Miyu quickly rushes over to Poliwag's side and gave him a sympathetic smile before gently picking him up in her arms. "You were great back there Poliwag, I'll let you rest okay?"

Poliwag nodds weakly before she returns Poliwag back to its ball and walks back over to her side of the battle field. Brock folds his arms over his chest, staring at Miyu.

"Looks like you're in the same predicament as before."

Miyu glares at him, pulling off Charmander's pokeball. "Doesn't mean this battle is going to end the same way it did last time."

Atsuo stares at her friend a bit worried, was Miyu going to be able to turn this battle around? Misty noticed the uneasy look in Atsuo's eyes and smiles at her in a reassuring way.

"Have faith in him Atsuo, he was training with me after all." She said, giving her a playful grin.

Atsuo smiles a little before turning her attention back to Miyu and Brock. "Charmander, you're up!" she shouts.

Charmander stood in front of Onix, a look that held a mixture of determination and a hint of intimidation from Onix's large size. "Don't be scared Charmander, you can do this!" she encourages with a small smile.

Feeling a bit more confident, Charmander nods. "Char!"

"Guess this means we'll have to end this quickly," Brock stares at Charmander. "Onix use Bind!"

Onix's large tail headed towards Charmander with the intent to grab and bind him. "Charmander, grab onto his tail!"

"What?" Brock murmurs a bit baffled.

Charmander obeys and uses his claws to grab a hold of Onix's tail. "Good, climb up Onix and use Ember!" Miyu shouts.

Charmander climbs up Onix before Onix could attempt to bind him and releases several flames right on his body. Onix let out a small cry, trying to shake off Charmander, but Charmander refuses to let go.

"Try and shake him off underground Onix!" Brock orders.

Onix did as it was told before digging a hole into the ground before moving right inside the hole to attempt to get Charmander off.

"Don't let go Charmander, just hang on!" Miyu encourages.

As Onix burrowed through the ground, Charmander held on for dear life, refusing to let go. The ground began to shake a bit as Onix eventually pops out of the ground, Charmander still clutching onto Onix's hard rock body with its claws.

Brock stood there a bit surprised, staring at Charmander who was now covered in dirt from being underground. _'How can he still hold on after that?'_

"Nice job Charmander!" Miyu cheers.

"Now use-"Miyu cuts herself off when she notices Charmander's body begin to glow a bright white.

He eventually let go of Onix as his body slowly began to change form before the light his body gave off slowly disappears.

"Charmeleon!" her Charmeleon shouts, blowing flames from his mouth.

Everyone stares at Miyu's newly evolved Charmeleon in awe.

"C-Charmander evolved?" Miyu sputters.

She quickly pulls out her pokedex and scans her newly evolved pokémon.

'_Charmeleon, the flame pokémon. It has a barbaric nature. In battle, it whips its fiery tail around and slashes away with sharp claws.'_

Miyu closes up her pokedex and smiles. "Awesome…" she whispers to herself.

"Impressive, guess it's time to end this battle once and for all," Brock states.

"Onix finish it off with another Rock Throw!" he orders.

Charmeleon smirks, dodging the incoming rocks that are thrown in his direction. _'Wow, he's fast…' _Miyu thought.

"Okay, Charmeleon, use—"

Charmander suddenly jumps in the air, opening his mouth as he releases a dragon-like shock wave directly at Onix's face.

'_Wait, I didn't say anything yet!'_ she shouts in her mind. Onix let out a roar of pain as the Dragon Rage had become a direct hit before slowly falling to the ground.

"Onix is unable to battle, Charmeleon wins. The battle goes to Ichirou from Viridian City!" the referee shouts.

* * *

**Evafan24:** Well, looks like Miyu/Ichirou finally beat Brock. And her Charmander evolved too, didja see that coming? XD

Anyway, comments and messages are welcome as always as well as criticism. I know there's always room for improvement. Thanks for reading! ^^


	17. Chapter 16

**Evafan24:** I've noticed that I've been switching tenses a lot and it's become a big habit of mine. I'm gonna try to stick with present tense and try not to switch back and forth from present to past tense. Feel free to review in case you notice any tense errors. ^^;;

* * *

"I-I won…?" Miyu asks herself for the second time. She pinches herself just to make sure she wasn't dreaming before a grin slowly made its way to her face.

Brock stood there completely flabbergasted, slowly taking in what he had just witnessed. _'Guess I underestimated him…'_ he thought.

"Nice job Onix, you did your best…return." He took Onix's pokeball off his belt before returning him back.

"We did it Charmeleon!" she cheers, quickly rushing over to her new fire pokémon.

She reaches out to hug him, but she quickly drew back when she notices the look in her Charmeleon's eyes was completely different than the one her Charmander usually gave her. This look held a mixture of fierceness and confidence, perhaps even a little arrogance. It wasn't hard to tell that Charmeleon still wanted to fight.

"We won Charmeleon, aren't you happy?" she asks with a small frown.

Charmeleon shook his head, staring down at his claws. Miyu sighs, scratching the back of her head in reply, unsure of what to say to him. _'I didn't know Charmander's personality would change so much when he evolved…'_ she thought.

"Once we head over to Cerulean City, you'll get to fight more pokémon. I promise…" She reassures him, smiling softly.

Charmeleon stares at her for a moment or two before turning his nose the other direction, causing Miyu to twitch. "Alright, that's enough for today, return."

"That was quite the battle Ichirou, you definitely have been working hard since you last challenged me." Brock said with a small smile.

Miyu grins sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "Thanks Brock."

"Of course you'll probably have to work even harder to train your new Charmeleon." He said.

Miyu nods, inwardly frowning at the thought of Charmeleon turning his nose away from her. _'Didn't know I could have a pokémon that acts like such a prima donna…'_

Brock held out his hand, showing her the Boulder City Badge. "I'd like to present you with your first badge."

Miyu smiles, taking it from his hands before holding it in the palm of her hand. _'My first badge…'_ she thought.

"Congratulations!" Misty and Atsuo said in unison.

"Yeah, you weren't half bad out there Ichirou." Ash said with a small smile.

'_Half bad, more like kick ass!'_ she screames in her mind happily. _'Even though I didn't exactly tell Charmeleon to use Dragon Rage at the end…we still came up on top!'_

"Thanks guys, now all I need is seven more badges and then I can compete in the Pokémon League!"

"You still have a long way to go until then," Brock reminds her. "But if you keep working hard I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"You're right," Miyu nods her head in agreement and smiles. "Thanks Brock."

* * *

"What?" Ash shouts. "What do you mean you're not gonna travel with us?"

Miyu shook her head. "Sorry, I've already got a traveling buddy with me. Besides, we don't have any reason to stay here in Pewter City now that I have my badge. Right Atsuo?" she turns to her friend for approval.

She shrugs meekly in reply. "I-I guess…"

Ash kicked at the ground a little with the front of his shoe. "I thought you guys were gonna wait until I battled Brock."

"Sorry Ash, but I need to get a move on if I ever hope to get all my badges in time to challenge the Indigo Plateau. Besides, you've got Misty to keep you company." Miyu reminds him.

Ash shrugs a bit in reply, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

Misty glares at him, putting her hands on her hips.

"Well excuse me for not being good company. And for the record we're only traveling together because you still have to replace my bike." Misty glowers, poking her index finger right at his chest.

"It's just a stupid bike Misty. I already told you I'd return it someday!" he shouts.

"And I'm gonna keep traveling with you until that day comes!" she shouts back.

"Oh yeah?"

"YEAH!"

Miyu and Atsuo exchange a look as they continued to watch the two bicker. "Yeah, um…you guys look occupied right now, so we'll just…catch up with you later alright?" Miyu mumbles.

As Misty and Ash continues to argue, Miyu and Atsuo took this opportunity to slowly back away from them before heading towards the next route that lead to Mt. Moon.

* * *

"I didn't know Misty could hold a grudge over a bike." Miyu murmurs. "Who would've thought her only reason for traveling with Ash is because she wants him to replace her bike?"

"Maybe that bike was important to her?" Atsuo assumes.

"I suppose," Miyu shrugs. "It still sounds like a petty reason to travel with someone if you ask me."

"M-Misty would probably get mad if she heard you say that."

Miyu lazily placed her hands behind her head as she continues to walk beside Atsuo. "Well she can't hear me now can she?" she giggles.

Atsuo stays quiet as Miyu continues. "Besides, I'm sure she's only using her bike as an excuse to travel with Ash because she has a crush on him." She adds with a snicker.

Atsuo eyes widen and stares at Miyu as if she had said something scandalous. "I-Ichirou!"

Miyu laughs at her friend's reaction. "Why do you look so surprised? Didn't you see the way they were arguing like that? They were acting like an old married couple for crying out loud!"

Atsuo ponders for a moment, tapping a finger to her chin. "So, you're saying because they argue constantly…that they like each other?" she guesses.

"Exactly," Miyu nods with a grin.

"Oh, so if what you're saying is true…then that means that you have a crush on Gary." Atsuo teases, giggling softly.

"W-What!" Miyu gapes, staring at her friend as if she had just grown a second head. Her cheeks turn a light shade of red. "You can't be serious!"

"Well, you guys argue almost all the time, a lot like Ash and Misty were earlier. So maybe that means you have a—"Miyu quickly put a hand over her mouth to interrupt her.

"I do not, repeat DO NOT…have a crush on that conceited, narcissistic, pain in the ass of a jerk! We argue and fight because that's what rivals do, end of story." Miyu whispers before she slowly took her hand away from Atsuo's mouth.

"I was only kidding Ichirou, no need to get defensive." Atsuo said, quickly waving her hands in front of her face in a defensive manner.

"I wasn't being defensive…" she grumbles in a childish manner.

Atsuo sweat-drops in reply. "If you say so,"

"Even if that were true, and I'm not saying it is, I'd probably be one of his stupid fan-girly cheerleaders that follow him around. And I would never stoop so low as to wave a couple of pom-poms for that jerk."

"I-I believe you Ichirou." Atsuo reassures her.

"Ah!" Miyu rubs her temples and groans under her breath. "I think I need a sponge for my brain just to erase all that from my memory."

Atsuo laughs nervously, scratching the back of her head a little. She suddenly stopps in her tracks when she hears a noise in the long tall grass up ahead. "Um, Miyu?" she whispers.

Miyu opens her eyes, turning towards Atsuo. "What's the matter?"

She slowly points a finger in the direction in the grass. "I think I heard something over there."

"It's probably a wild pokémon, maybe it's one we haven't seen before." She said with an eager grin.

Miyu reaches out for Charmeleon's pokeball, but suddenly thought better than to let her new Pokémon try to set the grass on fire. "Poliwag, c'mon out!"

Her Poliwag let out a small cry before it stood in front of Miyu. "Alright, aim your Water Gun at the grass." She commands.

Poliwag nods before releasing a shot of water from its mouth and directly at the grass. A loud cry could be heard from the grass and whatever had been hiding suddenly jumped out, now soaked from the Water Gun.

"Cool, it was a new pokémon after all." Miyu grins, quickly pulling out her pokedex from her shoulder bag.

'_Mankey, the pig monkey Pokémon. It is extremely ill-tempered. Groups of them will attack any handy target for no reason.'_

Miyu looks through the information on her pokedex before she closes it up. "Looks like Mankey is a fighting type. Now that's my kind of pokémon."

Atsuo frowns, staring at Mankey nervously. "It doesn't look too happy that we attacked it."

"Key…" Mankey growls, its face turning red from anger.

"Well I'm sure it'll feel better once I capture it." She grins. "Poliwag use your Water Gun!"

Poliwag jumps in the air, releasing another Water Gun. Mankey glares at Poliwag, quickly jumping out of the way to dodge it before using its claws to scratch at Poliwag several times. Poliwag let out a cry of pain before falling to the ground while Mankey stood in front of Poliwag, unscathed.

"Poliwag, try and use Hypnosis!" Miyu shouts.

Poliwag obeys, his belly beginning to spiral in a different direction in an attempt to hypnotize the small fighting pokémon. Both Poliwag and Miyu had been caught off guard when Mankey charged at Poliwag head on by sending a powerful low kick that made Poliwag fall right over.

"No, Poliwag!" Miyu shouts, her tone filling with worry.

Poliwag lays there on its back for a brief moment before he slowly pushes himself up off the ground. Mankey stares at Poliwag with a conceited looking smirk before aiming another low kick towards him.

'_Not good,'_she thought.

Miyu quickly pulls out Poliwag's pokeball and returns him before the kick made impact. _'This Mankey is a lot tougher than it looks. Guess I got no other choice.'_

"Charmeleon, c'mon out!"


	18. Chapter 17

**Evafan24:** Hey guys, sorry this update is so late. I meant to post this chapter up, but never got around to it. Anyway, this chapter might seem a bit short, but I promise to post the next one up very soon. ^^;;

* * *

Charmeleon stood in front of Mankey while Miyu clenches her fists anxiously, eager to see her Charmeleon kick some butt. Unlike Miyu, Atsuo was feeling a little unsure about Miyu using her Charmeleon.

"You sure you want to use Charmeleon so soon Ichirou?" Atsuo asks with a small frown. "I don't mind lending you Bulbasaur if you want."

"C'mon Atsuo, you know I can't do that. Besides, Charmeleon wanted to fight so I'm giving him what he's been craving. Isn't that right Charmeleon?" she grins at him.

Charmeleon glances at Miyu for a moment before turning his attention back to the Mankey. _'Gee thanks for showing your enthusiasm…' _she thought sarcastically.

"Okay Charmeleon, use Dragon Rage!" Miyu orders, pointing a finger towards Mankey.

Charmeleon stood there silently before closing his eyes and folding his arms across and chest while turning his head in the other direction in a disobedient manner. "Char," he spoke.

"What, what do you mean no?" she shouts.

Miyu couldn't exactly speak pokémon, but it was easy to tell from his body language that Charmeleon didn't exactly like being told what to do, or listen to her for that matter.

Charmeleon gave her no response which only annoyed Miyu.

"Please Charmeleon?" Miyu pleads. "You wanted to battle more didn't you? Well here's your chance now, standing right in front of you."

Mankey stares at the trainers and Charmeleon, now looking extremely annoyed and impatient. Before Miyu could add in another word, Mankey jumps in the air and aims his foot at Charmeleon, intending to use another low kick attack.

"Look out!" Atsuo suddenly shouts.

Charmeleon's eyes suddenly snap open before he dodges the kick at the last second by jumping back a few feet, Mankey's foot meeting with the ground instead of Charmeleon. Miyu sighs in relief, staring at her Charmeleon who was now glaring at the Mankey for trying to attack it.

'_Looks like he's ready to battle now,'_ Miyu thought with a light smirk. _'Maybe now he'll listen to me.'_

As Miyu prepares to shout out another command, she was suddenly interrupted when Charmeleon opens his mouth and releases a Dragon Rage attack towards Mankey. Mankey dodges the attack by jumping to grab onto the nearest tree before he quickly climbs his way up.

Mankey mockingly pulls down his eyelid and stuck out its tongue at Charmeleon, irking Charmeleon even more. Charmeleon proceeds to grab onto the tree with his claws and slowly climb his way up, but by the time he even got halfway to Mankey, the Mankey simply jumped into the next tree and laughed.

Miyu frowns, glaring at the Mankey that mocked her Charmeleon. "Don't let that Mankey get to you Charmeleon!" she shouts.

Charmeleon paid no mind to Miyu's words and instead fires another Dragon Rage Attack towards Mankey who easily dodges it by jumping into the next tree and proceeds to make his getaway by jumping from tree to tree. Miyu watches her Charmeleon chase after the wild Mankey, leaving both her and Atsuo behind.

"Charmeleon wait up!" Miyu shouts, quickly chasing after her fire pokémon.

Atsuo sighs with a shake of her head before she quickly follows after her friend to hopefully catch up to her Charmeleon.

* * *

A mysterious figure stood in front of the entrance to the Mt. Moon cave, his arms crossed over his chest while his hair was nestled underneath a black hat that also hid his eyes. He suddenly pulls out a small black radio from his pocket before pushing a button on it.

"Have you managed to find any yet?" a deep voice murmurs from the radio.

"No sir, but I think we're getting close to finding them." The young man replies quietly.

"Well hurry up. The more time you waste looking for _them_, the less chances you'll have of actually getting _them_."

"Yes sir, we've got all our men searching each floor of the cave so it's only a matter of time before we do."

"Good, just one more thing…"

"Yes sir?"

"Don't allow any intruders to pass through. Don't hesitate to get rid of them if you must."

A small smirk made its way to the man's face before he nods silently, adjusting his hat slightly. "Not to worry, I'll be sure to take care of any intruders that try to pass through here."

* * *

"Ugh, how could I have let this happen?" Miyu groans under her breath, tilting her head back while pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Ichirou, don't beat yourself up over this. We just need to find Charmeleon. Besides I doubt Mankey and Charmeleon could've gone too far from here." Atsuo reassures her.

"Yeah, guess you're right..." Miyu sighs and nods her head in agreement.

"Our best bet is somewhere nearby or in Mt. Moon. We were headed in that direction anyway so it shouldn't take us long to find Charmeleon."

"Yeah, but if they're inside the cave, we wouldn't know where to look if we've never been inside."

"Don't worry, I've got an idea." Atsuo smiles, pulling a pokeball off her belt. "Bulbasaur, c'mon out!"

A white flash emits from the pokeball before a Bulbasaur is released from it.

"Bulbasaur…" he spoke while cocking his head to the side at Atsuo.

"Bulbasaur, I need you to help us find Charmeleon." Atsuo said.

Bulbasaur nodded his head and watches Miyu pull out Charmeleon's pokeball.

"Just follow this scent." Miyu holds out Charmeleon's pokeball in front of Bulbasaur's nose.

Bulbasaur sniffs the pokeball, getting himself familiarized with Charmeleon's scent before he ran towards the Mt. Moon cave, Miyu and Atsuo quickly following behind him.

Bulbasaur suddenly stops in his tracks when he noticed a dark looking figure up ahead.

"Bulba…" Bulbasaur whispers.

Atsuo and Miyu catch up with Bulbasaur seconds later, looking down at Bulbasaur in confusion.

"Bulbasaur, what's wrong?" Atsuo asks.

Bulbasaur lifts his vine to pointed towards the figure that was standing in front of the Mt. Moon entrance.

Miyu smiles a little. "Maybe they saw Charmeleon go inside."

"Maybe…" Atsuo trails off, staring at the figure. She couldn't help but feel there was something a little bit…off about that man standing there.

'_I'm probably just being paranoid.'_ Atsuo reassures herself, quickly shaking the thought from her mind.

"Are you coming Atsuo?" Miyu shouts.

Atsuo looked up to see both Miyu and Bulbasaur standing a several feet away from her expectantly. "Yeah, I'm coming."


	19. Chapter 18

**Evafan24**: Hey guys, sorry it took so long to post this up. I really need to stop procrastinating...well anyway, I had the day off today from school so I decided to use that chance to update. It's a little short, but I promise to add up the next chapter soon. I'd like to thank everyone for reviewing and reading this story so far. Special shout-out to MiiDNiGhT & alicelouise for their recent reviews and encouraging words. I really do appreciate all the love and support from you both and everyone else here. Thank you. Oh, as a final note, I don't own Pokemon or its characters, just the original characters I created for this story and this plot idea.

* * *

The mysterious man who blocked the entrance way to Mt. Moon continued to scan the road up ahead cautiously, waiting for any unexpected trainers to come by.

"_Don't allow any intruders to pass through. Don't hesitate to get rid of them if you must." _ A familiar voice echos in the back of the young man's mind.

He nods to himself before he rummages for something in his jacket pocket, pulling out a watch hanging from a silver chain to check the time. His lips curve into an anxious frown before he stuffs his watch away. "Wonder how much longer this is going to take? It won't be much longer until people start getting suspicious of our motives…" the man murmurs to himself.

As if on cue, the man quickly turned his attention back to the road when he heard the sound of voices coming towards his way. His body froze for a brief moment, obviously not expecting any more trainers to show up so soon. _'Greeeeat,' _he mentally drawls. _'Just great.' _

He adjusts his black cap for a moment to get a better look at who these 'bratty trainers' were. They were indeed trainers, a girl and a boy. The only thing different about these two trainers was the Bulbasaur that was leading them. A devious smirk made its way to the man's face as he stared down at the grass pokémon. _'I'm sure the boss won't mind if I snag a couple of pokémon while I'm waiting out here. Kill two birds with one stone…'_

"Excuse me sir, would you mind letting us through?" a meek voice interrupted his thoughts.

The man quickly replaces his devious looking smile with a casual, yet somewhat forced smile instead, hoping to fool the young trainers. "Sorry kid, no can do." He apologizes.

Atsuo looks at him curiously as to why while Miyu frowns at the young man clad in black, folding her arms over her chest. "Why not, you ARE the one blocking this entrance after all."

"I'm blocking this entrance for a reason," the man continues, glaring down at Miyu. "We're doing some construction in here and it's too dangerous for trainers to be wandering in this cave right now." He lies smoothly.

"What, but this is the only way to get to Cerulean City!" Miyu whines, her shoulders sagging in emphasis. "Can't you just let this slide? My pokémon is in this cave and I need to find him."

'_So much for hitting the jackpot,'_ he thought. _'Although...'_ his eyes travel over to the Bulbasaur that stood in front of its trainer. _'One pokémon is better than nothing.'_

"I think I could let my buddies allow you to pass through if…" he trails off.

"If what?" Miyu waited anxiously.

"If you can defeat me in a pokémon battle." He finishes.

"You're on!" Miyu shouts eagerly.

She turns her head when Atsuo places a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" she warns quietly.

Miyu quickly thought back to the battle her Poliwag went up against the Mankey. _'That's right, I almost forgot about that. I don't know if Poliwag would be able to hold his own after that last battle with Mankey for too long.'_

Miyu was taken a bit off guard when Atsuo took a step closer to him, Bulbasaur at her side. "Fine, I'll battle you."

"Atsuo…" she trails off dumbfounded.

Atsuo turns her head and smiles at Miyu. "The sooner we find him the better right?"

She stares at her for a moment or two longer before Miyu nods and smiles back. "Yeah…"

The man rolls his eyes before he spoke up again. "One last thing before we begin our battle."

Miyu and Atsuo look up at him curiously, waiting for him to finish. "This battle will be a little bit…different than what you're used to."

"Exactly how different?" Atsuo ask him.

He smirks as he pulls off three pokeballs off his belt and enlarges them before tossing them into the air. "I'm playing for keeps!"

"Wait…What?"

Three Gastly popped out of the pokeballs, slowly closing in on Bulbasaur who shakily began to back away in fear. Miyu stares at him in disbelief before she glares at him. "Hey you can't do that! That's not fair!"

"Tch, what do you expect? Team Rocket never plays fair; we play by our own rules. Gastly, use Shadow Ball!"

The three Gastly began to surround the Bulbasaur who quickly put some distance between himself and the Gastly as they each release a dark black blob from their body.

"Dodge it Bulbasaur!" Atsuo quickly shouts.

Bulbasaur watches closely as the three Shadow Balls combine into one large shadow ball, intending to dodge the attack. It was then that Bulbasaur had realized that the Shadow Balls were going in a completely different direction instead of hitting Bulbasaur. Surprisingly, the Gastly hadn't been aiming for him at all. By the time Bulbasaur had turned around, he had seen just what they had been aiming for.

"AAAAH!"

Miyu and Atsuo cry out in pain as the Shadow Ball collided with their bodies, knocking the wind right out of them before they were sent flying back a few good feet back, hitting the ground with a sickening thud. Bulbasaur watches in horror as the two girls struggle to try and move only to find their bodies refusing to obey.

"Y-you bastard," Miyu curses silently as she struggled to keep her eyes open. She slowly brought her arm up to her face to wipe away the blood that slowly trailed down from the corner of her mouth.

"I gotta say kid, I'm disappointed. I expected more of a fight from you, but whatever. All's well that ends well right…?" A malevolent chuckle could be heard from the Rocket Grunt's throat before slowly making his way towards the girls.

As Miyu's vision slowly began to grow spotty and fade in and out, she slowly turned her head to see Atsuo knocked out cold from the Shadow Ball attack. Miyu slowly turns her eyes towards the sky before her vision completely faded out to black.


	20. Chapter 19

**Evafan24: **Hello everyone, I apologize for the wait. I've been occupied with school and my summer job. I just finished my spring semester a few days ago so that should leave me a little more time to update depending on how busy I'm kept with my freelancing job with the newspaper/publishing company. Anyway, enough about that, hope you all enjoy the latest update~

* * *

"_Ichi…"_

'_Someone…is calling out towards me. But-'_

"Ichirou…"

'_Everything feels so hazy, my body…feels numb. All I remember is challenging this guy to a Pokémon match and the next thing I know, I'm on the ground…'_

"ICHIROU!"

The fog that had been drifting over Miyu's mind slowly began to dissipate as she felt herself slowly regain her senses. She forces her eyes to open little by little, allowing her eyes to adjust to the lighting. Luckily for her, there wasn't much light in the place. She slowly pushes her body up to a sitting position on the floor.

"W-Where…where the heck are we?" Miyu whispers to herself, rubbing at her eyes.

"I'm so glad you're awake. I was starting to get worried." A familiar voice sighs in relief.

Miyu's eyes quickly dart towards the direction of the voice to see her friend Atsuo sitting just a foot or two away from her, a look of relief washing over her usual mousy face.

"Atsuo…?" She whispers blinking twice.

"I tried to wake you up earlier, but you wouldn't move a muscle." Atsuo explains.

"How long have I been out anyway?"

"Not long I think. We haven't been locked in here for very long."

"Wanna run that by me again?"

Miyu rubs the back of her head as her eyes begin to take in their surroundings. They were both indeed locked behind metal bars in a small prison cell at the bottom of a dark cave; a few candle lights hanging from the sides of the wall provided a little light.

"We were probably taken inside the Mt. Moon cave after that battle we had with that man earlier." Atsuo explains.

Suddenly, the memory of their encounter with the Rocket Grunt was coming back to her. Miyu and Atsuo were trying to find her Charmeleon whom had chased after the wild Mankey into the cave before they were attacked by the Gastly the Rocket Grunt had sent to fight against them.

"Yeah, I remember now," Miyu whispers under her breath.

She glares at the metal bars in front of her as the man that had attacked them earlier flashes through her mind.

"After I woke up, I realized Bulbasaur wasn't with me and I got really worried. I don't know what I'd do if something were to happen to him." Atsuo whispers sadly.

"Don't worry Atsuo. I'm sure we'll find a way out of here. Maybe Poliwag could help us out?"

Miyu's hand reaches for a pokeball on her belt only to find it missing.

"I-It's gone…?" she gaped.

"Yeah, our bags were taken too…"

"Ugh, I swear when I get out of here and get my pokémon back, I'll get that no good piece of—"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but you won't be leaving anytime soon. At least not until Team Rocket has finished their job here, maybe then we can dispose of you." A dark voice sneers.

Miyu and Atsuo turn their heads towards the figure that slowly climbs down a ladder from above and towards the small prison they were kept hostage in.

"You, you're the one who locked us down here didn't you?" Miyu accuses angrily.

He folds his arms across his chest, his lips curving into a smirk.

"Well, well, I must say you catch on pretty quickly for a snot-nosed runt who hardly put up a fight." He chuckles under his breath.

Miyu clenches her fists at her side before rushing over towards the metal bars, her violet contact eyes glaring at him, wishing to burn a hole through his head.

"We'll see how much of a fight you put up when I get out of here!"

"Why did you lock us up in here?" Atsuo asks with a deep frown.

The Rocket Grunt rolls his eyes, ignoring the harsh glare Miyu was shooting him.

"You shouldn't be so surprised, especially if you're standing in Team Rocket's way."

"Team Rocket, what kind of a team name is that? That sounds pretty lame if you ask me." Miyu grumbles under her breath.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH! You ought to feel grateful we didn't dispose of you now. Not while we're in the middle of discovering something this big."

"What're you talking about?" Atsuo asks.

"Like it's any of your business, but if you must know, we're on the hunt for some rare fossils." He explains.

Miyu and Atsuo both exchange a look of confusion at his statement.

"What kind of fossils are you guys looking for anyway?" Miyu asks with a frown.

"You've got some nerve, you'd think I'd be dumb enough to tell you all that?"

'_Well I probably wouldn't put it pass this guy…'_

"And if you know what's good for you, you'd best keep your nose out of other people's affairs." He warns.

"Oooh, I'm so scared. I'm shaking in my cargo pants." Miyu replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You will be once I'm through with you!"

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" another voice shouts.

The Rocket Grunt tears his attention away from the two trainers and towards the newcomer that comes down the stairs and makes his way over towards him, another male Rocket Grunt dressed up in the same black uniform and hat.

"You shouldn't be slacking on the job talking to the prisoners. I wonder what the boss will do when he hears about this?" He threatens.

His face pales at the mere thought of his boss. "T-There's no need for that," he laughs nervously.

"I'll take it from here. You're needed upstairs anyway."

He nods before rushing off to climb up the ladder and make his way to the next floor. Both Miyu and Atsuo stare at the new Rocket Grunt with slight curiosity. He looked to be a few years younger than the one who had just run off and wore a pair of black sunglasses to hide his eyes.

"Like we need another baby-sitter to be watched in this cage." Miyu snorts under her breath.

A soft chuckle escapes the young man's lips as he pulls out a set of keys from his pocket that were attached to a key ring, spinning the ring around his finger with ease.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't be baby-sitting you girly-boy." He reassures with a cocky smirk, slowly removing his sunglasses.

Miyu and Atsuo do a quick double-take, gaping at the brunette eyed boy.

"G-Gary?" Miyu sputters.

"Didn't expect to see me so soon did you?" Gary chuckles.

"What're you doing here Gary?" Atsuo asks.

"And dressed like one of…them?" Miyu points a finger at his outfit with disgust.

Gary rolls his eyes. "It's called blending in genius, and it's a long story. I'll have to fill you in on the details later. For now, I gotta get you guys out of here before one of those Team Rocket Grunts comes back down here."

'_I hate to admit it, but for once I'm kind of glad to see him…just kind of!'_ Miyu thought with a meek smile.

"Thanks Gary," Atsuo smiles.

"You can thank me later, just remember you still owe me for the last time I rescued you girly-boy." Gary points a finger at Miyu who shoots a glare at him.

'_And to think I WAS actually kind of glad to see him. NOT!'_

* * *

**Evafan24**: Yes ladies and gentlemen, Gary has finally arrived yet again to help Miyu again! Oh and Atsuo too~ I know many of you have probably been wondering where he's been all this time. Will they all be able to escape the cave without being captured yet again? Stay tuned and find out in the next chapter!


	21. Chapter 20

**Evafan24**: Hey everyone, hope everybody's summer is going great! I know mine is, I just got back from New Jersey to visit some family. Bad part about a vacation is that they all must come to an end. *sigh* Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone who's read or reviewed my story. You guys are the best! ^.^

* * *

"Gary, what's taking you so long? Mind picking up the pace?"

"Don't you think I'm trying? Quit rushing me!"

"Ugh…"

Gary continues to try and unlock the metal door to the prison cell with the set of keys he had equipped earlier. Unfortunately, he didn't know which one was the right key so he was forced to try every key until one of them successfully unlocked the door.

Miyu folds her arms across her chest, trying her best to resist the urge to yell at Gary and possibly attract any unwanted attention. After all, she didn't want to risk Gary getting caught trying to save them. As much as she detested the idea of being rescued by someone she didn't even like, he was pretty much her only chance of escaping this place. And at this point, she knew she didn't have much of a say in the matter.

'_I feel like a damsel in distress, except I'm being rescued by the idiot who doesn't even know how to unlock the prison cell.'_ Miyu thought with a huff.

"Hey, I think this is the right key." Gary's voice

"Really…?" Atsuo asks with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Well it's about time…" Miyu sighs in relief.

With the final key in his hand, he slides it into the key hole and turns it. A soft click is heard from the gate as it slowly creaks open.

"I got it!" Gary boasts proudly.

"Good, now let's get the—"

The three teens suddenly freeze on the spot when they suddenly see a pair of black boots slowly come down below from the metal ladder.

'_Oh crap, another one of those guys from that…wait what was the name of their team again?'_ Miyu mentally ponders.

"Guess I got no choice…" Gary mumbles under his breath.

Atsuo and Miyu stare at him wide-eyed as he pulls off two pokeballs from his belt.

"Y-You're serious?" Miyu asks with a raised eyebrow.

"You got any better ideas…?" Gary frowns.

Miyu and Atsuo exchange looks before looking back at Gary.

"Go for it," Miyu whispers.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Gary replies with a confident smirk.

Gary quickly puts back on his sunglasses before he turns around and faces forward. Two Team Rocket Grunts slowly approach him, not aware of the pokeballs that he was holding in his hand.

"We've been assigned to keep an eye on the brats. You're dismissed," the female rocket grunt ordered, pointing her thumb towards the ladder.

"Sorry, no can do." Gary apologizes sarcastically.

The male rocket grunt clenches his fists angrily. "You dare to question orders?"

"Listen, you better watch you say if you're going to be serving Team Rocket. I don't know who recruited you, but I'm not above smacking you around a little if that's what it takes to make you follow simple directions." The woman warns.

Gary smirks and enlarges the pokeballs he held in his hand.

"Sorry, but I don't take orders from criminals," He began before tossing out the pokeballs. "Sandshrew, Wartortle, use Rapid Spin!"

The two rocket grunts take a cautious step back as two bright white lights are released from the pokeballs and reveal a Wartortle and Sandshrew coming at them with a Rapid Spin.

Both Atsuo and Miyu watch in awe as the two team rocket grunts are suddenly shoved back by the Rapid Spins and into the rocky walls, knocking them unconscious. Wartortle and Sandshrew both land on their feet with ease.

Gary walks over to his pokémon and pats both of them on the head affectionately. "Nice job guys,"

Both of his pokémon smile at his praise. Miyu and Atsuo simply stand there as if they couldn't believe how quickly Gary had taken care of the criminals by himself.

'_Man that was...'_ Miyu mentally trails off.

Miyu couldn't bring herself to even finish her own thoughts.

"That was pretty impressive Gary." Atsuo compliments with a soft smile.

Unable to resist taking the compliment, he grins in a smug-like manner. "Thanks, but what can I say? When you got it, you got it." He chuckles.

Miyu rolls her eyes at Gary, pushing the prison cell door open. "Not bad, but you still got a long way to go." Miyu mumbles in a lackluster tone.

"Would it kill you to show a little appreciation?" Gary retorts with a glare.

"Not if you're just going to brag about it. I'm not going to bother boosting your ego when it's obviously bigger than it needs to be."

"Hey guys," Atsuo interrupts.

Miyu and Gary turn their heads towards Atsuo. "I think I have an idea on how we can all get out of here." Atsuo says.

"You do?" Gary and Miyu ask in unison.

Atsuo nods her head and points towards the Team Rocket Grunts that were slumped against the wall. Miyu stares at them for a brief moment before she quickly realized what she was suggesting.

"Blending in…?" Miyu asks.

"Yeah, that's how Gary managed to get inside and help us right? If we all blend in, we might be able to look around the cave and find our Pokémon and get the rest of our stuff back."

"And expose these guys for what they're trying to do." Miyu nods, slamming a fist into the palm of her hand.

"So it's settled then," Gary nods. "Change your clothes and we'll head on out."

Atsuo frowns and shyly looks away from Gary, fidgeting a little while Miyu glares at him as if she was going to tear him a new one. She had half a mind to knock some sense into him until she realizes doing so could possibly raise Gary's suspicions of the way she's acting towards him.

"You moron, Atsuo isn't gonna change with you down here." Miyu says in a calm, yet annoyed-filled tone.

Gary stares at Miyu blankly before his entire face turns beet red at the sudden assumption. "T-That's not what I meant!"

Miyu rolls her eyes and folds her arms across her chest. "Yeah, sure it wasn't."

Atsuo sighs as Miyu and Gary continue to bicker. It was amazing to her how they could keep a pointless argument going for so long.

"Um, might if I make a suggestion?"

* * *

"Hey Atsuo, I know how I said that this was a good idea to leave Gary upstairs while we change, but exactly why do I have to be the one wearing the girl's uniform?"

"S-Sorry, the female uniform was a bit too uncomfortable for me to move around in. Besides, the outfit was in your size…"

"Oh, well how convenient, how do you think I feel wearing these short-ass shorts?"

Gary pokes his head down through the hole to look down at Miyu and Atsuo. Miyu was wearing the female Team Rocket Grunt outfit. Her outfit consisted of a black top with a large red R in the middle of it with black shorts that were complimented with knee high gray boots, matching gray gloves, and a black hat. Atsuo's outfit was a bit similar except she wore long black pants instead of black shorts.

"Hey, you guys coming up here or what?" Gary warns.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get your panties in a twist." Miyu mumbles.

Atsuo giggles a little before she slowly climbs up the ladder with Miyu following in step. Miyu self-consciously tugs at her shorts while climbing up the ladder as well. Gary covers his mouth to try and resist the urge to laugh, which only comes off as muffled snorts when he sees Miyu…or rather Ichirou dressed in the female uniform for Team Rocket.

"N-Nice outfit girly-"

"SHUT-IT," Miyu cuts him off angrily, her cheeks flaring up a dark shade of red.

"Gary, how well do you know your way around Mt. Moon Cave?" Atsuo asks with a frown.

Gary manages to quiet his laughter a bit by directing his eyes towards Atsuo.

"I know my way well enough to find a way out of here." Gary replies.

"Don't forget, we still need to get our stolen pokémon back." Miyu reminds him.

"Yeah, I'm really worried about my Bulbasaur…" Atsuo says with a hint of worry.

Miyu suddenly frowns at the sudden memory of her 'beloved' Charmeleon running off to chase after the wild Mankey they encountered earlier.

"Well what're we standing around here for? Let's go and find our pokémon!" Miyu insists.

Gary nods before he heads down the cave and motions Miyu and Atsuo to follow in suit.

'_Hopefully wherever Charmeleon is, he's out of harm's way…_' Miyu thought.


	22. Chapter 21

**Evafan24**: I know it's been a while since I've updated this story. Though I do hope to keep working on it. I've been so stuck on writing for Shikamaru I haven't thought much about this story these past few months. So for those that have been waiting for an update... thanks for being so patient and putting up with the lack of updates. ^^;;

* * *

"So do you have any idea where our Pokémon might be Gary?" Atsuo's eyes stared at Gary's back as he lead the way through Mt. Moon cave.

"To be honest, I don't." Gary shook his head.

"Uuuuuuuugh..." Miyu groaned in an un-ladylike manner.

Gary rolled his eyes in reply towards Miyu's comment. "Don't worry; I'm sure if we just ask around we'll find them eventually."

"Ask around, are you crazy?" Miyu stared at Gary indignantly.

Although the part of the cave the trio was walking though was empty, Miyu still had to do everything in her power to keep her voice down as well as not give herself away to Gary. It was bad enough he had already heard her scream like a girl once. And once was certainly more than enough.

Gary turned to look over his shoulder at Miyu. "As long as you just play it cool and don't act like an idiot, we'll be fine."

"Ehehe…" Atsuo smiled nervously, suddenly feeling the tension between Gary and Miyu grow thicker.

"Speaking of idiots, what's up with Miyu these days Atsuo?" Gary inquired.

Miyu froze in her tracks for a moment, feeling her heart skip a beat at the mention of her real name. Luckily, Gary was leading the way, so he didn't catch her reaction.

'_Crap,'_ Miyu bit down on her lip. _'Crap. Crap. Double Craaaaaaap!'_

"W-Well um…" Atsuo trailed off, feeling skittish and nervous about the subject.

Miyu quickly catches up with Atsuo and Gary, now trying to think of a possible answer to his question.

"Just don't take the fact that I'm asking about her the wrong way." Gary quickly added. "I just asked because I figured you both would be traveling together since you two were practically tied at the hip in school."

'_Hmph…' _Miyu stuck her tongue out at Gary when he wasn't looking.

Atsuo stayed quiet for a moment or two, quickly thinking up another lie to keep from blowing Miyu's cover.

"Well, the thing is that…that's why we're not traveling together." Atsuo began. "Since we…we were always hanging out together in school…we thought it would be best if we just go our separate ways for a little while."

Miyu inwardly exhaled a long sigh of relief, putting a hand on her chest. _'Nice save Atsuo...' _Miyu thought.

Gary went quiet, allowing Atsuo's words to sink into his subconscious. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. So you invited your cousin along… so you wouldn't feel lonely?" Gary glanced at Atsuo's 'cousin' who frowned.

Atsuo quickly nodded her head in reply to his question and smiled. "Y-Yeah, that's right. Hanging out with Miyu and leaving her behind… made me realize that it's easy to take friendships for granted if they're always there for you."

"Never would've thought of friendship like that." Gary nodded thoughtfully.

"So, what about your friendship with Ash then?" Atsuo asked.

"Let's not get carried away," Gary snorted with a roll of his eyes.

* * *

"Target sighted…" Miyu murmured, a small smirk playing at her lips.

"So how do we go about asking this guy Gary?" Atsuo whispered.

Gary looked from his spot from behind the large boulder they were hidden behind to watch the male Rocket grunt that was keeping watch for any suspicious activity. It didn't appear to look like the grunt was paying too much attention to his surroundings at the moment.

"I got it covered; just stay here and I'll signal when to follow my lead." Gary ordered, putting a finger to his lips.

"What's the signal?" Miyu looked over at Gary.

"You'll know, just trust me…"

Miyu and Atsuo exchange a look before looking back at Gary. "Just be careful…"

Gary nodded and cautiously walked out from his hiding spot from behind the boulder when the Rocket Grunt wasn't looking. He pulled off a pokeball from his belt and began walking towards the Grunt. He finally caught wind of the silhouette approaching him and quickly composed himself.

"Shouldn't you be at your post?" The grunt folded his arms across his chest.

Gary holds out his pokeball in front of him. "I found out the hostages were hiding another Pokémon and I was ordered to put it with the others." Gary lied smoothly.

The Rocket Grunt stayed silent, contemplating whether or not to believe him before he slowly nodded his head.

"Just hurry up and head upstairs to put it with the others and get back to your post." He ordered.

Gary nodded in reply. "Understood,"

"By the way, how in the hell did you get recruited? You look a little short,"

'_Uh oh…'_ Miyu and Atsuo thought in unison.

Gary glared at the Rocket Grunt, who was actually a few inches taller than him. "The boss was willing to overlook over my height because that obviously has nothing to do with the potential I have."

The grunt scratched the back of his head awkwardly at the mere mention of their boss.

"Oh, and by the way…I just got an urgent call from him. He said he needs you on the lower level with the others, they need some extra help down there." Gary pointed his thumb in the opposite direction.

"…fine." The Rocket Grunt sighed.

And with that, the Rocket Grunt takes off down the cave without looking back. Miyu and Atsuo watch the grunt run pass, poking their heads out from their spot behind the boulder.

"I guess that was the signal?" Atsuo cautiously walked out from behind the boulder.

"You got it," Gary motioned for Atsuo and Miyu over.

"I gotta say, for an evil organization, they sure are stupid. I mean, they'll believe anyone dressed like this is a member of it?" Miyu tugged at her black shorts. She didn't know how the girls put up with wearing such short shorts. They were starting to give her a wedgie.

"Still, we can't afford to get careless. It probably won't be long before they find out you guys escaped. So we better find your Pokémon and find a way out of here."

The girls nodded in agreement and head upstairs to collect their belongings and their Pokémon.

* * *

"Bulbasaur, I'm so glad you're safe…" Atsuo hugged the grass Pokémon close to her body.

"Saur, Bulba…" Bulbasaur smiled toothily, nuzzling his head in the crook of her neck affectionately.

Miyu grabbed both her pokeballs and her backpack before slinging it over her shoulder.

"Alright, alright, enough love, let's get out of here. We don't have much more time to waste here." Gary warned.

"Yeah, yeah, just don't get your panties in a—"

"…Char." A familiar voice growled in the distance.

Miyu stops mid-sentence, quickly looking around her surroundings to see if she was indeed hearing things.

"Is something the matter Ichirou?" Atsuo returned her Bulbasaur back to his pokeball.

"Did you guys hear something?"

"Hear what…?" Gary raised an eyebrow.

'_It's gotta be…it just had to be him!'_ Miyu mentally confirmed._  
_

"Um, you guys…I uh…have to go to the bathroom." Miyu laughed in a sheepish manner.

"Wait, what? You gotta be kidding me! Can't you at least wait until we get outside?" Gary stared at Miyu in disbelief.

"I-I won't be long, promise. I'll be back in a flash!"

"H-Hey, wait a second!"

Miyu paid no heed to Gary and quickly went on ahead in the opposite direction of the cave, leaving both Gary and Atsuo behind.

'_That just had to be Charmeleon, it just had to be!'_ Miyu thought.

Her thoughts were confirmed when her eyes catch sight of a Dragon Rage attack colliding with the rocky ceiling of the cave. The cave to shook a bit from the impact, a mixture of dirt and dust rising in the air. Miyu coughed, putting a hand over her mouth and waved away the dust. She tentatively stepped closer towards the source of the collision. When the dust cleared up, she sees her Charmeleon locked in combat with the wild Mankey.

'_Unbelievable…how long have they been fighting?'_

Miyu watched Mankey aim a low kick at Charmeleon who narrowly dodges by jumping back a few good feet. Charmeleon grunted, falling to his knees and placing his clawed hand on the ground as he tried to catch his breath.

'_This isn't good, Charmeleon is looking worn out. I gotta do something.'_ Miyu stared at Charmeleon briefly before turning her attention to the wild Mankey. Mankey looked a little tired himself, but both Pokémon were equally too stubborn to fold.

"Charmeleon!" she shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth.

Charmeleon looked out from the corner of his eye in Miyu's direction, turning his attention back to Mankey. Mankey was recovering at a faster rate than Charmeleon as he shifted his body to a fighting position, holding both his fists in front of his body.

Miyu quickly recovered Charmeleon's pokeball off her belt and held it out in front of Charmeleon. "Charmeleon, return!"

Mankey blinked as Charmeleon suddenly disappeared in a gulf of red light and pulled back into his pokeball.

"You've caused me a lot of trouble today, you know that?" Miyu sighed and put her pokeball back on her belt.

"Well, well. Looks like a little girl has lost his way…" a feminine voice chuckled from behind Miyu.

"H-Huh?" Miyu teared her attention away from the wild Mankey to look over her shoulder. The moment her purple hues met with the two Rocket Grunts standing behind her, she immediate regretted it.

'_Oh crap…'_ Miyu's face paled.


End file.
